I’ll assume Vin Mazzaro is more upbeat about this one than his last start, when he gave up six runs in five innings and yet still lowered his ERA from 22.74 to 17.47.
Mazzaro pitched seven scoreless innings despite failing to strike out a batter Sunday as the Royals beat the Angels 9-0 to win two out of three games in Anaheim.
The Angels hit into five double plays in the contest. Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu, Howie Kendrick and Mark Trumbo all grounded into one, while Hank Conger had his line drive turned into another.
Blake Wood took over in relief of Mazzaro to start the eighth and fanned the first batter he faced, Andrew Romine. It was the Angels’ only strikeout of the game, making this the first shutout to feature just one strikeout since the A’s beat the Rangers 5-0 on Aug. 28, 2010.
The last shutout without a strikeout took place on May 17, 2006, when the Tigers beat the Twins 2-0. Justin Verlander went eight in that one before Todd Jones finished up.
Alex Gordon went 3-for-5 and pounded out his 20th double for the Royals. He drove in two. Billy Butler and Chris Getz both had two hits and two RBI apiece. Mike Moustakas, who hit his first big-league homer las tnight, went 1-for-4 with a walk.