KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)– The next run Chi Chi Gonzalez gives up in the majors will be his first.
“It is going to be sad,” Gonzalez said, then laughed.
Gonzalez threw a three-hit shutout in his second major league start as the Texas Rangers beat the skidding Kansas City Royals 4-0 Friday night.
The Royals lost for the eighth time in 10 games, while the Rangers have won six of seven and 14 of 18 to move into second place in the AL West behind Houston.
Gonzalez (2-0), the Rangers’ 2013 first-round draft pick out of Oral Roberts, has not allowed a run and yielded only five hits in 14 2/3 innings in his first two starts. He checked the Royals on three singles, walked two and struck out two.
“I had the same jitters just because it was my first away start,” said Gonzalez, but he kept the sellout crowd at Kauffman Stadium quiet.
Gonzalez worked around five walks in 5 2/3 innings to top Boston 8-0 on May 30 in his big league debut.
“I threw more strikes and got ahead of a lot more hitters than in my last outing, which is what I was hoping to do,” Gonzalez said.
He threw 102 pitches in eight innings, and pitching coach Mike Maddux visited him in the dugout.
“I sat down and got a drink of water, Mike came up to me and asked how I was feeling,” Gonzalez said. “I said I felt strong, I felt good. He said `all right, go get `em.” That was the end of that conversation.”
Manager Jeff Banister said it “was not an easy decision” to send him out for the ninth.
“This is a young man that’s fresh in the big leagues, second major league start,” Banister said. “I’m very conscious of where he is. I felt like there was not a lot of stress on any of the innings. I felt he was in still in control, the velocity and pitchability was still there. We had a pitch count we weren’t going beyond.
“We had (Shawn) Tolleson ready if he got into any trouble. He didn’t get into any trouble.”
Mitch Moreland led off the Rangers’ three-run sixth with a homer. Robinson Chirinos celebrated his 31st birthday with a two-run single to finish right-hander Edinson Volquez’s night.
Volquez (4-4) gave up four runs and six hits, while striking out six and walking three in 5 1/3 innings.
Gonzalez, who retired 12 in a row after walking Lorenzo Cain in the first, did not allow a Royal to reach second base until the seventh. Eric Hosmer had a bunt single and Kendrys Morales walked, but Alex Gordon grounded into an inning-ending double play.
“We went through him four times today and still couldn’t solve him,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Gonzalez.
Delino DeShields led off the game with a triple and scored on Shin-Soo Choo’s groundout.
