Royals win streak continues, 1-0 over the Angels

If you watched today's game you got to see some fine, fine pitching. The Royals tried to put together rallies in each of the first two innings, but were foiled by a dominant Tyler Skaggs, who struck out a batter in the first and a pair in the second to end both threats. Skaggs actually had a lot of strikeouts, he tied his career high of nine in only four and two-thirds innings. He finished the day after his seventh inning of work, but didn't strike out anymore. He also didn't allow any runs, so he probably wasn't complaining.

For his part, Ian Kennedy had a no-hitter going until two outs into the fifth inning. At that point he finally allowed a double by C.J. Cron which was also the first - and only - extra base hit for the Angels in the series. Kennedy followed that up with another strikeout. Ian also tamed his inner walk-monster, allowing only two in eight innings of work. He struck out ten and allowed a pair of hits to completely counter whatever wizardry Tyler Skaggs had cooking.

José Alvarez relieved Skaggs in the eighth. This time, without Mike Moustakas to mess things up for him, he managed to strike out a pair on his way to a scoreless inning. Kelvin Herrera struck out one in his own scoreless inning of relief for the Royals.

Blake Parker arrived in the ninth inning to try and keep the game scoreless. Unfortunately for the Halos he allowed a leadoff single to Salvador Perez - a patented booty knock into left field.

At this point, Ned Yost unleashed a veritable flurry of bench moves: Raul Mondesi came on to pinch run while Moustakas came to the plate to pinch hit for Cheslor Cuthbert. Drama and tension were thick in the air. Parker buried a pair of breaking pitches in the dirt to Moose, giving the slugger a hitter's count and Mondesi a chance to read his move. Parker then fired a fastball way high and outside to make the count 3-0. The Angels seemed largely disinterested in facing Moustakas with Paulo Orlando on deck. Parker dropped a changeup down the middle to Moose just to prove he could throw a strike if he wanted to. The next pitch was a breaking ball, swung on and missed, but Mondesi chose that opportunity to steal second. Parker's next pitch was yet another curveball buried in the dirt but this time it got between Carlos Perez's legs and allowed Mondesi to race to third while Moustakas walked to first.

Angels manager Mike Scioscia decided to go to his closer, Cam Bedrosian, Son of Steven Bedrosian, to get his team out of the jam. Orlando faced him first and popped up the second pitch he saw into foul territory for C.J. Cron to glove. The Angels then went to the five-infielder formation, moving Kole Calhoun in from the outfield, to face Alcides Escobar. Anything in the air out of the infield would be enough to win the game. On a 3-1 pitch that is exactly what Escobar did; flaring a ball into right-center field which the Angels outfield decided to not even bother chasing down. They just jogged dejectedly into their dugout and allowed the ball to drop, giving Esky a game-winning, walk-off single.

The Royals, having successfully wielded their angel-feathered brooms in their first series sweep of the season, are now .500 for the first time since they were 0-0. They have won four straight games on some terrific starts from their rotation. Tomorrow will be an off-day, Royals baseball will resume on Tuesday when the Giants come to town to start a two game series. The Royals’ Jason Hammel (0-1, 6.52) will take the mound in an attempt to follow his teammates' lead. The Giants will counter with Matt Cain (1-0 4.82).