Young making strong case to stay in rotation

KANSAS CITY -- With each start, right-hander Chris Young seemingly is making it harder and harder for Royals manager Ned Yost to not consider him for a spot in the rotation.

In fact, Yost previously had indicated strongly that Young would be back in the bullpen once left-hander Jason Vargas was ready to come off the disabled list.

But that philosophy may be changing after Young turned in his third straight terrific emergency start. Young gave up just one run and four hits over 5 2/3 innings in the Royals' 12-1 rout of the Yankees on Friday night.

"Again, we just take it start by start," Yost said. "I fully expect Vargy to come back strong. I fully expect [Danny] Duffy to bounce back strong, but if we run into an issue, we definitely have him to rely on."

The Royals sure do. Young has given up just one run in 16 2/3 innings over his three starts.

On Friday, Young waltzed through a tough Yankees lineup.

"They hit some balls hard and our defense made some great plays," Young said. "Lorenzo [Cain] made a great catch. I'm just happy we won. I held the game close and the guys came through."

Young left in the sixth with a 2-1 lead after throwing 91 pitches.

"My endurance has definitely gotten better," Young said. "Last time in the sixth inning, I felt a little tired, but tonight I felt good. But the matchups and the game dictated tonight I come out."

Young indicated in his last start he struggled with his out pitch -- his slider. That wasn't the case against the Yankees.

"It was OK," he said. "I threw some good ones. It's such a good lineup, they have so many lefties, you try to backdoor the pitches or throw it on their hands. It's two different types of sliders. It was good enough tonight."