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Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Kansas City 2, Houston 1
When: 2:05 PM ET, Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Where: Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas
Temperature: Indoors
Umpires: Home - Dan Bellino, 1B - Jerry Layne, 2B - Bob Davidson, 3B - Mike Muchlinski
Attendance: 30687

Royals 2, Astros 1:
Bruce Chen pitched 5 2/3 solid innings to outduel Jordan Lyles as visiting Kansas City edged Houston in the rubber match of a three-game set.

Brayan Pena recorded the lone RBI on a groundout and Alex Gordon scored on an error for the Royals, who have won seven of nine.

Chen (6-6) allowed one run on five hits while striking out six and walking two. The veteran left-hander bounced back from a disastrous start last weekend in which he was lit up for six runs in 1 2/3 innings at St. Louis.

Lyles (1-4) matched his longest effort of the season, working seven innings and surrendering only two runs and three hits. The 21-year-old right-hander struck out four and did not walk a batter, but was saddled with his third straight loss.

Kansas City scratched out a run in the fifth when Mike Moustakas led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout and came in on Pena’s groundout.

The Royals extended it to 2-0 in the sixth as Alex Gordon tripled and came in to score on Jed Lowrie’s error at short.

The Astros got a run back on Lowrie’s RBI single in the sixth, but four Kansas City relievers combined to strike out eight in 3 1/3 innings.

Jonathan Broxton allowed a pair of hits in the ninth but got the final two outs with the tying run on third to lock down his 18th save.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Astros LF J.D. Martinez recorded his second multi-hit game in as many starts. He was 7-for-47 (.149) in his previous 12 games. … Houston CF Jason Maxwell left the game after the fifth inning due to a left ankle sprain. … Prior to the game, the Royals recalled IF Irving Falu from Class AAA Oklahoma and optioned RH Louis Coleman to the minors.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Kansas City   Houston
Bruce Chen Player Jordan Lyles
Win W/L Loss
5.2 IP 7.0
6 Strikeouts 4
5 Hits 3
1.59 ERA 2.57
Hitting
Kansas City   Houston
Mike Moustakas Player J.D. Martinez
1 Hits 2
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
2 TB 3
.333 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Kansas City 4 0 7 .129 7 7 2 0 0 0
Houston 8 0 10 .235 23 14 1 3 0 1