Royals closer Greg Holland got himself into trouble, but quickly got himself out of it. After giving up a leadoff single by Nick Markakis and a run-scoring triple to Adam Jones, the Baltimore Orioles had the tying run at third with nobody out. Holland retired the next three batters to close out the Royals’ 3-2 victory Tuesday night, snapping the Baltimore Orioles’ season-best, five-game winning streak.
Holland got Chris Davis, who leads the majors with 37 home runs and 97 RBIs, to strike out at a pitch in the dirt. Then he got J.J. Hardy and Henry Urrutia to ground out ending the game. It saved a masterful performance by Bruce Chen, who was making just his second start of the season.
Chen, now 4-0, held the Orioles to three hits and one run, retiring the final 10 batters he faced. The Orioles had 45 hits in their previous three games before Chen, Kelvin Herrera, Aaron Crow and Holland shut them down, holding the O’s to just five hits.