Nats Nightly

Gio Gonzalez threw a lot of pitches early, but hung around for 102 pitches total over six scoreless innings in Kauffman Stadium as the Washington Nationals took the series opener with the Kansas City Royals, 2-0. It was the fourth straight win for the Nationals, who improved to 18-7 on the year with the win. After Gonzalez was done, Sammy Solis, Shawn Kelley, Oliver Perez and Jonathan Papelbon combined for 3.0 scoreless frames, shutting the defending World Series champions out.