Royals Recap: Wade Davis Brilliant; Greg Holland & Kelvin Herrera Bounce Back

The stalwart starting rotation again covered for the struggling bats of the Kansas City Royals (8-6) on Wednesday when the Royals handed the Atlanta Braves (12-2) only their second loss of the season and broke the Braves 10-game winning streak. The Royals were on the top side of a 1-0 pitcher’s duel.

April 17, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Wade Davis (22) pitches in the first inning against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

On the Mound

Wade Davis (2-0) was terrific over 7 scoreless innings of 5 hit ball. He struck out 7 and didn’t issue any free passes. His ERA dropped to 2.25 over his first three starts. Kelvin Herrera, coming right back from allowing 3 home runs the night before, pitched the 8th giving up only a up only a single, and Greg Holland slammed the door in the 9th with his best outing of the year as he struck out the side.

At the Plate

It was another unimpressive night at the plate. The Royals only manage 8 hits and 5 of them were from Alcides Escobar (2) and Lorenzo Cain (3). Their only run came in the 4th when Jeff Francoeur singled in Escobar. Luckily, Davis, Herrera, and Holland made that run stand up.

This and That

This was the 5th game out of 14 that the Royals have held the opposition to one run or less. That didn’t happen until the 33rd game of the year in 2012. The Royals are 3rd in the AL in ERA (3.30) and second in WHIP (1.13).

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

This was all about Wade Davis. On Wednesday, he was the pitcher the Royals were hoping to get when they acquired him in the James Shields/Wil Myers deal. If he can be an effective starter, it will be huge for the Royals, present and future.

Previous Players of the Game:

The Braves

Mike Minor (2-1) was nearly as perfect as Davis. Minor went 6, giving up the 1 run on 5 hits and no walks. He struck out 5. Neither team issued a walk in the contest. Only Juan Francisco managed multiple hits for the Braves, although they weren’t home runs like the evening before. He is batting .333 on the season.

Up Next

The Royals are off today (no recap Friday) as the travel to Boston for a weekend series. Their game on Friday will be the first in Boston since the tragedy on Monday. Due to all of the off days recently, Kansas City is skipping Luis Mendoza‘s start this time around. James Shields (1-2) will go up against the red hot Clay Buchholz (3-0, .41 ERA) at 6:10.

AL Central Notes

Detroit Tigers ( 9-5 ): Former Royal Brayan Pena got the game-winning RBI in the 14th inning Wednesday when his ground out scored Don Kelly. The Tigers beat the Mariners 2-1.

Chicago White Sox (7-8 ): Jose Quintana had a terrific game, going 6.2 innings of shut out ball, as the Sox beat the Jays 7-zip. Alex Rios hit his 5th home run.

Minnesota Twins (6-7 ): The Twins were rained out. Bet they wish they had a retractable roof on Target Field now.

Cleveland Indians ( 5-8 ): A couple of former Yankees, Nick Swisher and Jason Giambi, homered for the Indians in the 6-3 loss to Boston.

Home/Kansas City Royals