Holland answers call to finish victory over O's

BALTIMORE -- Even though the Royals had a five-run lead on Friday night, closer Greg Holland had not pitched since the previous Saturday and manager Ned Yost felt obliged to get him some work. So he pitched the ninth inning in relief of Yordano Ventura and closed out a 5-0 win over the Orioles.

"You don't like doing those deals, at least I don't," Yost said, "because you never know when you're going to get on one of those runs where you're going to need him three or four days in a row, and you've ended up using one of them in a non-save situation. But after five days, you have to keep him sharp."

Holland zipped through the three Orioles batters he faced with a fly ball and two strikeouts.

"The good thing about it is, he got his work done quick," Yost said. "His pitch count was 11 so it was almost like a perfect scenario. He got in and did it quick, and didn't have to work hard."