The Royals led 2-1 entering the seventh. Kris Medlen was on cruise control and the Royals bullpen was waiting in the wings. What could possibly go wrong?
Two runs, that’s what.
Royals lose 3-2.
They close the road trip by losing two of three in Oakland to push their overall record on the trip to 4-3. Personally, I think anytime you come home with a winning record on a seven game swing, that’s a good trip. Your mileage may vary.
WPA Play of the Game
When that Billy Burns grounder skidded under the glove of Eric Hosmer, perhaps you suddenly faced a sinking feeling that today would not be the Royals day. PECOTA projects Burns for 25 extra base hits. That’s about one a week. Ahead of his at bat against Joakim Soria in the eighth, Burns had yet to advance past first on a ball he put in play. Dammit, he picked a poor time to decide to take extras. That roller boosted the A’s chance of taking the game (and the series) by 23 percent. That’s what happens when you put the lead run on third with no outs in a tie ballgame in the late innings.
I once got an intentional walk from Sandy Koufax
When asked to provide a career highlight, that’s what you get from Bob Uecker. He’s great. The intentional walk, however, is not for everyone. Last year, Yost ordered just 10 free passes, by far the lowest in baseball. With Burns still on third after a ground out, Yost had a decision to make with Josh Reddick stepping to the plate. Since arriving in Oakland, Reddick has provided the A’s an average of 2.6 WARP per season. He’s a good hitter. Probably the A’s most dangerous bat. Which brings an interesting question upon the proceedings: Is it the correct move to intentionally walk Reddick to face Danny Valencia?
Personally, I think the answer to the question is absolutely. The lead run is 90 feet away and not putting another runner on base on purpose serves only to protect you from a big inning. Avoiding a dangerous hitter like Reddick and setting up a double play against a player like Valencia – who openly dogged a twin killing earlier in the series – just seems like the correct move.
Correct move or not, Yost doesn’t give a damn for your intentional walk.
Serenity Now
Not a stellar effort from the bullpen, but this is baseball. These things happen. The Burns ground ball was inches away from turning into an out or at worst a single if Hosmer just could’ve gotten a bit of leather on it. Kelvin Herrera was summoned after Kris Medlen surrendered a leadoff double in the seventh to Chris Coghlan. He couldn’t strand the runner, which tied the game.
Breathe.
It seems like all last summer we heard, “When leading after six (or seven, or eight) the Royals record is 50-2.” Or some such astronomical combination of wins against losses. So the bullpen coughs up a game in April. Maybe now they will steal a win in August. The bullpen is still good. These things seem to have a way of evening out over the course of 162 games. It just seemed like luck conspired against them on Sunday. Again, your mileage may vary.
Medlen’s Strong Start
Kris Medlen’s two-seamer was working well and he did an outstanding job of mixing his curve, change and slider. He didn’t get a single swing and miss on his fastball, but of the 43 off-speed pitches he threw, he got six whiffs. For the most part, he worked down in the zone and when he did catch the fat part of the dish, A’s hitters were off balance enough, they couldn’t do much with the gift. Interesting that of the two hits Medlen surrendered, both came on pitches outside the zone.
In the 25 pitch fourth inning, Medlen suddenly went with a plethora of off-speed.
I’m not sure why he would lead so on the slower stuff when times were tough. Then take a look at his immediate pitch following the string of off-speed. Yep, his fastest pitch of the day. The fourth was the only blemish on Medlen’s afternoon. A Salvador Perez passed ball allowed the A’s only run to score up until the fateful seventh.
Hacktastic
The Royals offense is sputtering a bit these days. Special tip of the cap to Perez who saw just nine pitches in four plate appearances.
Up Next
The Royals are off Monday before returning to Kauffman to open a three game series against the Detroit Tigers.