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Davies sharp as Royals top White Sox

Sep 21, 2008 - 3:49 AM By Marc Bowman PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Kansas City Royals backed Kyle Davies' strong start by taking a page out of the Chicago White Sox's power-hitting play book in a 5-2 win on Saturday.

After surrendering four home runs to the White Sox - who lead the majors with 222 homers - in a series-opening loss Friday, the Royals responded with three blasts of their own Saturday.

Alex Gordon opened the scoring with his 15th homer, a two-run blast to the opposite field in the second inning.

"Every good hitter can drive the ball the other way," Gordon said. "To be able to do that and get it out is a plus. I got a fastball out and over the plate and took a good swing."

David DeJesus extended his hitting streak to 12 games when he led off the third with an inside-the-park shot to right. It was DeJesus' 12th home run of the season and his second career inside-the-park homer.

"I just hit it in the right spot," DeJesus said. "I saw (right fielder Jermaine) Dye go down and I thought 'three' off the bat. When I got around second base I saw (third base coach) Luis (Silverio) waving me home. It was fun, but it was more awesome to see Kila (Ka'aihue) get his first one and with all the excitement of the fans."

Rookie Ka'aihue hammered his first career home run before Mike Aviles capped Kansas City's scoring with an RBI double in the seventh.

"This was my first curtain call ever," Ka'aihue said of answering the fans' chant with a tip of his cap at the top of the dugout steps. "A bunch of guys said 'go up there.' I was so happy. My first home run. It was fun."

Davies (8-7) limited Chicago to a pair of singles and got help from double-play grounders as he faced the minimum through seven innings while retiring 17 straight batters.

"It's the tempo and my mindset on the mound," Davies said. "I want to just give my best stuff towards home plate. I made good pitches and got some double plays, and that's what I was lacking earlier in the season. I made pitches that were good enough and I wasn't trying to make perfect pitches."

"He's so locked in right now," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "The recipe is pretty much the same. He's gotten to the point where he is able to release every pitch with maximum effort. He's letting his pitches go with more authority. The last two outings he's been working out of the windup and that's helped him locate. As you locate, you're going to let go of your pitches with more confidence."

The 25-year-old righthander worked seven-plus innings, allowing two runs and three hits with one walk and three strikeouts. It was the second straight solid start for Davies, who permitted just four hits in pitching eight shutout innings in his previous outing.

"That's the thing I've been trying to do since (September 10 at) Minnesota," Davies said. "It fell into place. I wanted to throw the curveball and then adjust to fit the game. It was the exact same thing. Baseball's a fickle game. I'm never going to say 'I found it.' You never really 'find it.' I just want to keep my rhythm and my tempo and get a little bit better than the last game."

"There's no way you can't build off that effort," Hillman said. "Hopefully, he'll do that again in his last start and finish off the year strong."

Rookie Alexei Ramirez drove Davies from the game with a two-run homer in the eighth, his 20th of the year.

"I sat down for 20 or 30 minutes and I got a little bit tired," Davies said of waiting out the Royals' seventh-inning rally. "I tried to give it all I had. My legs just gave out a little on me."

John Bale got through the eighth before Joakim Soria survived a ninth-inning scare to collect his 41st save in 44 chances. With two on and one out, Dye's bid to tie the game was caught just shy of the left field fence, preserving the three-run lead.

Soria then fanned Jim Thome to end the game.

"I thought I got it good enough to go out," Dye said. "It just came up a few feet short. This was just another missed opportunity. Give their pitcher credit. He's pitched good against us. We just came up a little short."

Gavin Floyd (16-8) suffered the damage for the White Sox, dropping just his second decision since July 19 - a 9-1 defeat by the Royals. The 25-year-old righthander hurled 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs and eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

"Gavin made some good pitches and he made a few mistakes," Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen said. "I thought he threw the ball well. Their guy just threw the ball better."

"We were seeing the ball good off Floyd," DeJesus said. "We had some good at-bats. It's a good thing we got those runs early. It seems like he settled down after that."

The White Sox (85-69) failed to add to its American League Central Division lead, instead holding onto a 2 1/2-game advantage over the Minnesota Twins (83-72), who lost at Tampa Bay, 7-2.

"We're ready to fight," Guillen said. "We just left our game at the hotel. But their guy threw the ball very well. After

the first inning he dominated. He was able to throw offspeed pitches for strikes. You can't take anything away from what he did. We couldn't get anything going until the end. Maybe we got a little too relaxed."

"It's just part of the game," Floyd said of not taking advantage of the Twins' loss. "We can't dictate what they're going to do. Every game is a big game. I treat every game like it's the playoffs. I keep the same mentality. It's a little disappointing, but we're still in first place. We'll put today behind us and go out there tomorrow."