Royals reinstate closer Wade Davis from disabled list

DETROIT (AP) — The Kansas City Royals reinstated closer Wade Davis from the 15-day disabled list Saturday.

Davis hadn't pitched since June 30 because of a strained right forearm. The right-hander was 1-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 19 saves in 30 games when he went on the DL, and the All-Star break helped limit the number of games he missed.

"One of the best relievers in the game," manager Ned Yost said. "It's hard to go a couple weeks without that, but we felt like we had it covered with (Kelvin) Herrera and (Luke Hochevar) and (Joakim) Soria, so that just gives us another quality arm we can put in the back end of that pen."

The Royals entered Saturday night's game at Detroit with a 34-5 record when leading after six innings, but one of the defeats came the previous night, when the Tigers scored three runs in the seventh off Hochevar to beat Kansas City 4-2.

Davis has been one of the key components to a bullpen that has led the Royals to back-to-back American League pennants and a World Series title last season. He went 8-1 with a 0.94 ERA and 17 saves in 2015. The previous year, he was 9-2 with a 1.00 ERA.

Kansas City also optioned right-hander Brooks Pounders to Triple-A Omaha on Saturday.

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