Royals seek to keep Tigers' offense in check

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Kansas City Royals have kept the Detroit Tigers' offense in check during this four-game series and Edinson Volquez looks to keep that trend going in Saturday night's matchup.

The Tigers have been held to just two runs in losing the first two games of this series and didn't get their first hit in last night's 4-1 loss until the eighth inning. The top five hitters in Detroit's lineup went a combined 0- for-16 with five strikeouts.

That first hit, though, almost led to a rally as Royals reliever Kelvin Herrera entered with a 4-0 lead but nearly imploded. After Herrera walked Alex Avila, Nick Castellanos got Detroit's first hit of the game with a single to left and Jose Iglesias reached on an infield single to load the bases with no outs.

Anthony Gose came through with RBI ground out and Ian Kinsler drew a walk to reload the bags before Herrera fanned Miguel Cabrera and got Victor Martinez to fly out to left.

"We fought back," said Tigers manager Brad Ausmus. "We had a shot there against one of the better relievers in the game in Herrera."

Chris Young struck out nine in five no-hit innings for the Royals. He filled in for the suspended Volquez and yielded just three walks while throwing 81 pitches. He gave way to reliever Ryan Madson, who didn't allow a hit over his two innings of work.

"It wasn't realistic tonight for me to go nine (innings)," said Young. "The last time I even went four was in a minor-league spring training game. I gave the best effort I could tonight."

Eric Hosmer went 3-for-4, while Lorenzo Cain and Kendrys Morales had two hits apiece for the Royals. Morales drove in three runs as the Royals won for the fourth time in five games.

Volquez returns from his five-game suspension to pitch for the Royals tonight. He picked up the ban for his role in a brawl between Kansas City and the Chicago White Sox on April 23 and he faced the Pale Hose three days later to close the set before eventually dropping the appeal of his ban. Volquez took a loss, charged with five runs -- one earned -- on five hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings.

The 31-year-old dropped to 2-2 with a 1.91 earned run average on the season and is 1-2 with a 5.74 ERA in three career meetings with Detroit.

David Price will look to build off his second victory of the season when he starts tonight for the Tigers.

Price won for the first time since April 6 when he recorded a 5-4 decision in Minnesota on Monday. The left-hander gave up three runs on six hits and two walks over 6 1/3 innings striking out six as he bounced back from yielding eight runs over just 2 1/3 frames of a loss to the New York Yankees on April 22.

Now 2-1 with a 3.48 ERA on the season, Price is 1-0 lifetime versus the Royals with a 1.23 ERA in four games (3 starts).

Detroit was 13-6 versus the Royals last season, but Kansas City currently has a 1 1/2-game lead for first place in the AL Central.