Print edition: 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —If the Royals are any measuring stick, there is no better pitcher this season in the American League than Texas lefty C.J. Wilson.
Check the evidence from Monday night when the Royals managed just two hits against Wilson over 7 2/3 innings in a 3-0 loss to the Rangers at Kauffman Stadium.
"He was aggressive and had very good late movement," center fielder Gregor Blanco said. "Everything was down. He's got good stuff, and he's tough."
Wilson's season-long resume marks him as a Cy Young candidate at 14-5 with a 2.88 ERA. But this was his second gem against the Royals. His 4-1 victory on May 7 in Texas remains the only nine-inning complete game of his career.
"As far as all-around stuff," right fielder Willie Bloomquist said, "yeah, there are some guys who have a little more electric stuff. But as far as hitting his spots, pitching and mixing speeds, keeping you off-balance...
"I don't think we've been held to one hit through seven innings in a long time."
The only hiccup Wilson experienced was a 28-pitch second inning that included two of his four walks and an infield single by Bloomquist.
"That was the jam," Wilson agreed. "You're going to get a jam every game. I was just determined not to give in... I made some good pitches and got out of it."
It extracted a price though in putting him at 110 pitches with a runner on first with two outs in the eighth inning. That's when manager Ron Washington called on reliever Darren O'Day, who retired pinch-hitter Alex Gordon on a liner to first.
Neftali Feliz then completed the shutout by pitching around a leadoff single by Billy Butler in the ninth inning for his 33rd save in 36 opportunities.
"Early in the game," Washington said, "(Wilson) was a little erratic. But he came out there as each inning came and went and got a little more consistent. And he got us to the eighth inning."
Royals starter Kyle Davies pitched well, too. Just not as well. He permitted just two earned runs in a season-high 8 1/3 innings. All he got was a loss that dropped him to 6-9.
"It was a good bounce-back game for me," said Davies, who allowed seven runs and 12 hits in just 4 2/3 innings against Detroit in his last start. "But as a player, you still want to win the game.
"Really, you've got to give credit to C.J. He pitched a really good ballgame, and he's been pitching really well for a while."
The Rangers scored single runs in the second and fifth innings. Each time, a leadoff extra-base hit proved pivotal.
Nelson Cruz opened the second with double before scoring on Bengie Molina's single. Ex-Royal Andres Blanco drove a triple off the top of the right-field wall in the fifth and scored on Elvis Andrus' single.
An error by left fielder Jai Miller led to Texas' final run. Miller bobbled a one-out single by Blanco in the ninth, which enabled Blanco to reach second. He took third on a single by Andrus before scoring on Michael Young's sacrifice fly.
The victory boosted the Rangers to 74-57 and gave them an 8 1/2-game lead over second-place Oakland in the American League West Division.
The Royals managed only one hit against Wilson through the first seven innings — that two-out single by Bloomquist in the second inning that kicked off the glove of first baseman Mitch Moreland.
It was a borderline call that escalated in importance as Wilson rolled through the ensuing innings. Finally, the Royals got a clean single by Miller with one out in the eighth inning.
"That was a real hit that Miller got," Wilson said. "The other was a bad hop, a bad grounder. I was looking at it like that was a no-hitter. But I still had another (five) outs to get, and I didn't get those (five) outs — so it didn't matter."
Wilson is 7-0 with a 1.99 ERA in nine starts since the All-Star break.
"The more looks I get at a team," he said, "the better I'm able to analyze them and see what works. Real-game experience against the same team gives me an advantage. Everybody I'm pitching against now, I've already pitched against."
So that means what? That he should only get better?
