Posted on Sun, May. 11, 2008

A small mechanical change, that’s all Brian Bannister said he did. One little adjustment he didn’t specify, and, boom, just like that the Royals’ three-game losing streak is gone.

Bannister used his classic mix of breaking balls and deceiving fastballs, dominating the Orioles over eight scoreless innings of a 4-0 Royals victory Sunday in front of a Mother’s Day crowd of 18,635 at Kauffman Stadium.

“I actually felt like I was struggling a little bit,” Bannister said. “But I was able to struggle in the strike zone and keep the ball down when I needed to. That was the real difference.”

If Bannister wasn’t impressed, he might’ve been the only one. He gave up no runs, two hits and two walks in shutting down an Orioles offense that produced 13 runs in the previous two games. That stopped his personal four-game losing streak, the Royals’ three-game skid and was the team’s first win against Baltimore in 13 tries.

“Cutters, sliders, four-seamers, two-seamers, he was just locating everything,” Baltimore catcher Guillermo Quiroz said. “He was down in the zone, he went in on us when he had to. Guys like this on days like this, you’ve just got to tip your hat to him.”

Joey Gathright had another YouTube moment with a sprinting catch and crash into the center-field wall that Aaron Rowand had to be proud of. Alex Gordon had his sixth RBI in five games since moving back to the No. 3 spot.

And, perhaps most encouraging, José Guillen had a single and an RBI double, giving him eight hits over the last four games, and lifting his average above the Mendoza line for the first time this season. He’s now hitting .207.

That hip injury isn’t affecting his swing.

“It might be making me a better hitter,” he said, “because I have to slow down and not move too much when I’m at home plate.”

The Royals moved to 16-21 and, with the Tigers being rained out on Sunday, out of a last-place tie. But it wasn’t all good.

You got the feeling that the baseball gods, if they do exist, weren’t paying attention because teams — especially the Royals — don’t usually win with this many mistakes.

There were two errors, one on a dropped pop-up by Gordon and the other on a phantom catcher’s interference call against Miguel Olivo.

The biggest frustration with the Royals on Sunday was wasted scoring opportunities, getting just four runs with 11 hits and two walks.

You might want to read the next sentence twice, because it’s hard to believe. The Royals opened the second inning with four consecutive hits, had the bases loaded with no outs and scored just one run.

Mark Teahen hit a line drive that ended up close to the left-field foul pole but only got a single out of it because Billy Butler, who was on first base, misread the ball and had to stay at second.

“That’s an awful long single for T,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “All the way down in the left-field corner.”

So with the bases loaded and no outs, Alberto Callaspo hit a fielder’s choice grounder to third, Joey Gathright followed with another fielder’s choice grounder, and David DeJesus closed the inning with a fly-out to center.

Four consecutive hits, including one that should have been a double. Bases loaded. No outs. And the only run in the inning came on a ground-out by Gordon.

“That was my fault,” Butler said. “I didn’t get far enough down the base line. I was not at second base yet. I’ve got to get to third base on that. I misjudged it.”

The inning is just a teaching moment for Butler now because Bannister was that good and Joakim Soria pitched a perfect ninth inning in a nonsave situation.

Soria’s outing is worth noting because his last time out on Thursday, he struggled for the first time all season, retiring just one of the four batters he faced.

Joel Peralta bailed him out that night, and Soria still hasn’t given up a run all season after pitching a perfect ninth inning on just 10 pitches.

“Last time, my balance was a little bit off,” he said. “Just a little bit with my upper body, that was the only difference.”

The big story from Sunday, though, was Bannister.

A self-described streaky pitcher, Bannister had given up 19 runs in his last four starts, all losses.

But this was the good Banny, and that means throwing strikes, which he did 75 times in 110 pitches (his season high is 111 and his career high is 116) overall.

Twenty-one of the 28 batters he faced saw first-pitch strikes, and Bannister faced just four more than the minimum in evening his record at 4-4 and lowering his ERA from 4.46 to 3.75.

“I’m a competitor and I hate losing,” he said.

“It was just important that I prove that to myself and go out there and pitch the way that I pitch. Not necessarily just getting a win, but pitching efficiently, and getting deep into a game, and really pitching the way that got me to this level.”

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To reach Sam Mellinger, national baseball reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4365 or send e-mail to smellinger@kcstar.com