Royals 1 - 0 Yankees
Final
  for this game

Shields outduels Pineda, Royals blank Yankees

Sep 6, 2014 - 5:54 AM Bronx, NY (SportsNetwork.com) - James Shields pitched into the ninth inning and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the New York Yankees 1-0 in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.

Shields (13-7) was pulled for Wade Davis after giving up a single to Derek Jeter with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and Davis got the last two outs with a runner at second base, giving the AL Central-leading Royals their fourth straight win.

"Any time you face this team it's going to be a grind," Shields said. "To be able to pitch like that and save our bullpen for our road trip was nice."

Shields gave up just three hits, surrendered no walks and struck out six as he outdueled Yankees starter Michael Pineda.

"He just didn't make mistakes. There were no balls over the middle of the plate," said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "He was really good (and Pineda) was really good, too."

Nori Aoki drove in the only run with a single and Salvador Perez had two hits for the Royals.

Both teams had three hits.

Shields had retired 11 in a row before Jeter reached out and poked a hit into center field in the ninth.

Antoan Richardson came in to pinch-run for Jeter and Royals manager Ned Yost picked Davis to replace Shields -- not closer Greg Holland, who was tied for the MLB lead entering Friday with 42 saves.

Richardson stole second easily on a ball that got past Perez but Davis struck out Brett Gardner on a foul tip and Carlos Beltran on a called third strike to end the game and push his streak to 30 straight appearances without giving up a run.

Pineda (3-4) pitched seven strong innings, retiring the last 11 batters he faced. He gave up three hits, one run and no walks and struck out four. It was the second game in a row the Yankees gave him zero runs of support.

Alcides Escobar reached second on an error by Yankees third baseman Chase Headley and scored on Aoki's single in the third inning. Brian McCann later threw Aoki out trying to steal second.

The Yankees didn't have a baserunner until Gardner's two-out double in the fourth. They had just two hits and three baserunners through the first 8 1/3 innings.

Dellin Betances relieved Pineda and had two strikeouts in a perfect eighth inning, hitting 100 mph on one pitch. David Robertson also fanned two in the ninth for New York.

Game Notes

Davis picked up his first career save ... The Royals started a six-game road trip that will take them to Detroit next week for a key series against the division-rival Tigers... Kansas City released veteran pitcher Bruce Chen, who was designated for assignment last month.






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