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Greatness from Volquez nothing new for KC

Righty holds Yankees to three hits over seven scoreless innings

KANSAS CITY -- It is getting to the point with right-hander Edinson Volquez that Royals manager Ned Yost can't even distinguish one great outing from another.

After Volquez silenced the Yankees on Sunday with seven shutout innings, Yost was asked if that was the best Volquez had looked this season.

"No," Yost said. "Volqy looks good to me every time out. Seriously, every time out I have confidence in him.

"He's got a lot of action on his pitches and if he's commanding his pitches, he'll always be successful. But he was very sharp today."

Volquez breezed through the Yankees' gauntlet of left-handed hitters with ease, giving up just three hits while walking none and striking out five in a 6-0 win.

How did Volquez do it?

"The action on his pitches," Yost said. "He can start the ball in on lefties and it works its way back in by a lot. I mean, [catcher] Sal [Perez] has to work with the umpire because the pitches move so much. …Sal thinks they're strikes, so a lot of times he'll ask the umpire if he should move closer in and maybe that will give the umpire a better look at the pitches.

"That's how much the ball moves."

Volquez retired the first 11 hitters he faced.

"Everything was working," Volquez said, smiling.

The only trouble Volquez experienced came in the fourth. With two outs, Alex Rodriguez hammered a double for the Yankees' first hit. Then Volquez hit Mark Teixeira with a pitch. But Volquez got Brian McCann to strike out.

"Yeah, that was a big out," Volquez said. "I just had all my pitches working today."

And outings like Sunday's are a treat for Volquez's teammates, too.

"It's fun to just sit back and watch him deal," first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "And then all we have to do is get some runs and you know we can win."

Jeffrey Flanagan is a reporter for MLB.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FlannyMLB.
Read More: Kansas City Royals, Edinson Volquez