Rockies 2 - 3 Royals
Final
  for this game

Royals try to shut down high-powered Rockies offense

May 14, 2014 - 2:48 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Kansas City Royals will try to shut down the high- powered Colorado Rockies once again on Wednesday afternoon in the finale of a two-game set at Kauffman Stadium.

The Rockies lead all of baseball with a collective .298 average, 57 home runs and 223 runs batted in, but were held to just five singles in Tuesday's 5-1 setback to the Royals.

James Shields was outstanding against the Colorado offense, allowing one run and five hits while striking out eight without issuing a walk. He also surpassed 1,500 career strikeouts in the outing.

"I thought he was phenomenal," Royals manager Ned Yost said of Shields. "He had everything going today."

Lorenzo Cain hit a two-run homer and Salvador Perez added a solo shot for Kansas City, which has won five of its past seven.

Colorado, meanwhile, lost for the fourth time in five contests, with Justin Morneau driving in his club's lone run and Nolan Arenado notching two hits.

Franklin Morales, though, gave up four runs on eight hits with four walks in defeat.

"(Morales) was working behind most of the night," Rockies manager Walt Weiss said. "You get in bad counts and it's tough to be successful."

The Royals today will start left-hander Jason Vargas, a winner for the first time in four outings when he claimed a 6-1 decision in Seattle on Friday. He hurled seven scoreless innings, scattering three hits and walking none while striking out six.

Vargas is 3-1 with a 3.04 earned run average on the year thanks to his first victory since April 18, and the 31-year-old is 1-2 lifetime versus Colorado with an 11.42 ERA. Over that time, he has allowed 22 earned runs in 17 1/3 innings.

Jhoulys Chacin will make his third start of the season for the Rockies today since beginning the campaign on the disabled list with a shoulder injury.

The right-hander took a loss in his season debut on May 4 versus the New York Mets, giving up four runs on eight hits and five walks over five innings. However, Chacin righted the ship on Friday at Cincinnati, yielding only two runs on four hits and one walk over six innings of a no-decision.

Chacin, 26, has a 4.91 ERA on the year and will face the Royals for the first time.

The Rockies came into this set having won four of their last six versus the Royals, winning three-game sets in both 2010 in Kansas City and 2011 at home.






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