[ThePundit]

Kyle Davies makes his debut today for the Royals. Can he be walking into a tougher spot? A full house at Yankee Stadium.

[ThePundit]

And he coughed up A-Rod's 500th and only lasted 3 inning.....

[ThePundit]

Alarmed at the way his hands seemed to be flying around in a shaky first inning, Kyle Davies consulted with Royals pitching coach Bob McClure and got some simple advice.

"He said, `Don't worry about it. Don't think about that,"' Davies said.

So the 23-year-old right-hander didn't. And he pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning, combining with three Kansas City relievers to beat the Minnesota Twins 1-0 on a steamy Thursday afternoon.

"I went back out there and the next inning I was able to locate my fastball, my changeup, a slider and a curveball," Davies said. "Maybe that's the key -- just don't think about where they're going to be and they'll be where they need to be."

Acquired in the trade that sent reliever Octavio Dotel to Atlanta, Davies (1-1) struck out five and walked two over 6 2-3 innings in his second start for Kansas City. He walked Alexi Casilla leading off the game and then retired 14 in a row before Jason Kubel doubled with two outs in the fifth.

"He kept us off balance the whole game," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He threw the heck out of the ball."

MLB - Minnesota Twins/Kansas City Royals Recap Thursday August 9, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports

Now that's more like it. I hope Davies pans out. I want the Royals to become competitive again.