Well, if O's fans were worried about their ace ...

It had to be a nice feeling for Orioles fans to see Chris Tillman pitch so well last night. Sure, Kansas City is not a great hitting club but a complete-game shutout against any team is noteworthy. For Tillman, it came at a time when some questions were being raised about his health, his velocity, his first-inning struggles and his recent overall effectiveness. One good outing doesn't shove aside every concern, but it took care of most of them I think. Tillman said his groin injury was not an issue and it proved to not be. His velocity, while maybe down a tick or two from last year, was still good enough. Tillman said his fastball command was off recently and it was back most of last night and he had a really good curveball as well. In his 93rd career start, Tillman pitched his first shutout and the Orioles' first since last Sept. 6 when Scott Feldman did it against the Chicago White Sox. Tillman began this year as not quite an ace in the minds of most. Then he pitched like an ace, then he didn't. But he was back on his game last night. Birdland can probably relax about Tillman for a while. Some other notes from the win that leaves the Orioles with a 22-18 record 40 games into the season: * O's starters have pitched seven innings or more in five of the last eight games with an ERA of 2.94 in that stretch. O's starters went seven or more innings just five times in the season's first 32 games. * Nelson Cruz is 5-for-12 with two homers and seven RBIs his last three games. He has knocked in seven of the O's 11 runs in that stretch. * The Orioles have held onto first place since May 6. * Tillman recorded the O's 14th quality start of the season and they are 11-3 in those games. * The Orioles are 3-2 against Kansas City in 2014 despite scoring just 12 runs in the five games. The O's are batting just .224 with a .300 slugging percentage with just seven walks and 41 strikeouts against Royals pitchers. * Kansas City pitchers came up one run short of holding the Orioles to three runs or less over eight straight games for the first time since July 26, 1987 to July 30, 1988. * Nick Markakis went 0-for-4 Friday. But over his last 10 games against the Royals, he is batting .436 (17-for-39). He is batting .421 (8-for-19) this year against K.C.