Chris Tillman with a gem as O's beat Kansas City 4-0

Chris Tillman began this night with a career ERA of 9.00 against Kansas City and with an ERA of 6.49 over his last five starts. But if there were any concerns about Tillman, they were silenced tonight. Tillman pitched a complete-game five-hitter on 117 pitches as the Orioles blanked Kansas City 4-0 at Kauffman Stadium. Tillman walked one and fanned three batters. He is now 4-2 with an ERA of 3.34. This was the Orioles first complete-game shutout since Scott Feldman threw one against the Chicago White Sox last Sept. 6. It was their first complete game since Tillman's eight-inning complete game last Sept. 14 at Toronto. This was Tillman's first career shutout and it was the O's third shutout of the year. They blanked Tampa Bay 3-0 on April 16 and Minnesota 3-0 on May 2. Tillman's outing was the Orioles 10th start of seven innings or more this season. Five of those have come over the last eight games. Meanwhile, it was another night where the Orioles didn't score a lot of runs, producing four on the night. They had scored three or fewer 11 times in their past 18 games. The Orioles took a 2-0 lead in the fourth. Manny Machado reached on a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Later in the frame, Nelson Cruz singled in the game's first run. A Steve Clevenger fielder's choice grounder made it 2-0 as Kansas City failed to turn an inning-ending double play. Cruz added his second RBI with a sac fly in the sixth to make it 3-0. Cruz has 37 RBIs on the year and 30 over his last 26 games. A Chris Davis solo homer to right off a Jeremy Guthrie 2-1 pitch made it 4-0 in the eighth. It was Davis' third homer of the year and first since April 23. Guthrie gave up the four runs on eight hits over eight innings to fall to 2-3 with a 4.76 ERA. The Orioles entered this series 3-9 on the season against the American League Central, but win the first two games of the four-game set. Since beginning the season 0-2 in road games, they are 13-6 away from home. They improved the majors' best record in night games to 17-8. The O's are now 22-18 on the year. In the third game of this series on Saturday night, Bud Norris (2-3, 3.98 ERA) pitches for the Orioles against left-hander Danny Duffy (1-3, 1.96 ERA).