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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
BALTIMORE (AP) -- Mac Suzuki took the game ball, carefully placed
it in a tube sock and stuck it deep in his locker.
It was a souvenir that was a long time coming.
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| Suzuki |
Suzuki became the second Kansas City pitcher in two days to
pitch his first major league complete game against Baltimore,
scattering four hits Saturday night as the Royals won their fourth
straight, 7-0.
"It's great, real exciting," Suzuki said. "I'll ask my mom if
she wants the ball. She probably will."
Suzuki (7-7) struck out four and walked three in his 40th career
start. He allowed only one runner past second base in beating the
Orioles for the second time in six days. In that game, he allowed
five runs and 12 hits in 7 1/3 innings.
"The last time I faced them, they hit the fastball real good.
Today we used more breaking pitches," the right-hander said. "It
worked out real good."
Royals manager Tony Muser had his bullpen active in the late
innings, but Suzuki made it to the end.
"From the seventh inning on he usually gets tired, but tonight
he was sharp to the end," Royals catcher Gregg Zaun said. "He had
his legs underneath him."
Suzuki's 110th pitch was a groundout that ended the game. First
baseman Mike Sweeney quickly pulled the ball from his glove and
flipped it to the pitcher as memento.
"I've usually thrown around 125 pitches by the seventh or
eighth innings," he said. "Tonight I was a lot lower. I didn't
feel tired."
It was his second straight victory following a four-game stretch in
which he went 0-3.
"He did what a starter is asked to do, give you a chance to
win," Muser said. "That's really doing your job, not getting
yourself in trouble and staying away from the big innings."
Joe Randa hit a three-run homer and Jermaine Dye had a solo shot
for the Royals, who ended the five-game winning streak of Baltimore
starter Jose Mercedes (8-5). It was the right-hander's first loss
in eight starts since July 8.
"I thought he threw the ball well, other than the Randa homer,
which really knocked us in the teeth," Orioles manager Mike
Hargrove said.
Blake Stein pitched his first complete game Friday night for the
Royals, who outscored Baltimore 11-1 in the first two games of the
series. Kansas City is 7-1 against the Orioles this season.
Brook Fordyce had two hits for the Orioles, who have lost seven
of 10 to fall a season-high 16 games under .500 (53-69).
"We're not hitting the way we're capable of hitting," Hargrove
said. "But to say we're in a funk, I have a hard time doing
that."
The Royals led 1-0 before Randa connected in the sixth, hitting
his 12th homer of the season an estimated 374 feet into the
left-field seats with two aboard.
Kansas City made it 6-0 in the seventh when Johnny Damon tripled
in a run and scored on a single by Sweeney. The hit extended
Damon's hitting streak to 14 games, and the RBI was Sweeney's
109th.
Sweeney's hit chased Mercedes, who had a 2.30 ERA since the
All-Star break. He gave up six runs and eight hits in six-plus
innings.
Dye hit his 29th homer in the ninth off rookie Jay Spurgeon.
Baltimore missed a chance to score in the third when a two-out
drive in the right-center gap by Fordyce bounced into the seats for
a ground-rule double, forcing Jeff Conine to stop at third. Ryan
Minor then grounded out.
The Royals loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but
managed only one run on a grounder by Mark Quinn.
Game notes
Damon scored his 106th run to remain tied with Alex
Rodriguez for the league lead. ... Minor went 0-for-3 and is
1-for-23 in his last eight games. ... KC is 11-7 in August. ... The
Orioles fell a season-high 15½ games out of first place in the AL
East.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Kansas City Clubhouse
Baltimore Clubhouse
RECAPS
Cleveland 10
Seattle 4
NY Yankees 9
Anaheim 1
Boston 9
Texas 0
Minnesota 5
Toronto 1
Detroit 4
Oakland 3
Kansas City 7
Baltimore 0
Chi. White Sox 7
Tampa Bay 0
Cincinnati 7
Pittsburgh 1
Los Angeles 4
NY Mets 1
San Francisco 12
Atlanta 3
Colorado 10
Florida 3
Houston 10
Milwaukee 8
St. Louis 6
Philadelphia 3
Arizona 11
Chicago Cubs 3
San Diego 4
Montreal 3
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