Noah Cameron did everything a starter can do except earn the win Friday, holding the Mariners to zero earned runs over six innings in a loss. He allowed four hits and two walks, struck out eight and still walked off with a defeat that did little to dull the line he put together.
The outing pushed Cameron to a 4.72 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP through nine starts, with a 2-3 record, but it also gave him his second straight quality start and his third of the season. He needed 96 pitches to get through the night, generated 12 whiffs and allowed six hard-hit balls, showing the kind of contact management that can survive even when the scoreboard does not.
That split between performance and result is the part that matters. Cameron was strong enough to count as a quality start for the second game in a row, yet the Royals still lost, which is the kind of outing that can leave both a pitcher and a team wondering what more is supposed to happen.
Next up is the Yankees in Kansas City, a matchup that will give Cameron another chance to turn this stretch of effective work into something more than a promising line in a box score. If he keeps missing bats and limiting damage the way he did Friday, the record should eventually catch up to the pitching.
