Young making case to stay in Royals' rotation

KANSAS CITY -- Royals right-hander Chris Young made his fourth straight sensational start, lowering his ERA to 0.78 with six scoreless innings in helping the Royals to a 5-0 win over the Cardinals on Friday night.

At some point, however, Young could be sent back to the bullpen when left-hander Jason Vargas gets healthy and if and when Danny Duffy overcomes his recent struggles.

Manager Ned Yost, though, won't commit on any future plans regarding Young.

"I'm not even going there," Yost said. "Nice try, though. When we get to the point where we have to make a decision, we'll do it like we always do. We'll sit down with the coaches, with [general manager] Dayton [Moore] and do what's right."

Meanwhile, Young continues to dominate. He has given up just one earned run in 22 2/3 innings while in the rotation. Young says he ignores the numbers.

"It doesn't matter to me," he said. "One thing the bullpen taught me is to make one good pitch at a time, take care of one batter at a time. The numbers all even out through time. I'm not worried or concerned about that. I just like the element of competition of being out there."

Young battled all six innings on Friday against the Cardinals, giving up six hits and two walks in the I-70 Series opener.

"I wasn't great tonight," Young said. "I wasn't as sharp. Their guys fouled off good pitches and they made me work."

Still, Young felt strong enough to go back out in the sixth inning after having thrown 92 pitches.

"I felt good at that point," he said. "I felt like with the righties coming up, I could get those guys out. I said [to Yost], 'If I get in trouble you can come and get me. Do whatever you feel is best. But don't worry about pitch count.' There are nights I won't feel as good, but I did tonight."

Young promptly got the Cards in order in the sixth.

"Yeah, that was my only 1-2-3 inning so it worked out," Young said.