Do you remember Tuesday night? Specifically the ninth inning? That moment when Mike Moustakas crossed home plate, arm held aloft? Or that Lorenzo Cain mini lean-back? My advice is to hold on to that. Wrap yourself in that feeling. Do not let it escape.
The good vibes escaped The K almost immediately on Wednesday.
The Carnage
Three errors.
A wild pitch.
Three doubles.
A single.
If anyone asks how you score six runs on three hits, there’s your answer. The whole inning was like stepping back in to 2012 at The K. Nobody wants to go there. Including yours truly. So let’s’ just skip it.
The Pitching
No one really performed with distinction here except Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis. And water is wet. Those guys always perform with distinction.
As for Kris Medlen, it was over so quickly, you felt badly for him. Then, as the never-ending inning continued, it turned to worry about a pitch count careening out of control. Not that he wouldn’t be able to go deep in the game. That didn’t matter. It was the number of pitches in a single inning. Anyway.
After Medlen, you had an underwhelming audition of potential rotation replacement candidates. Danny Duffy gave up three hits in an inning of work. Dillon Gee surrendered two bombs in two innings. Chen-Ming Wang allowed four hits over two innings.
Ugly
The Highlight
It was probably Eric Hosmer getting kicked out of the game. Because then we saw Salvador Perez play first base. And that opened the door to a Terrance Gore plate appearance. A special day at The K.
The Aftermath
I don’t listen to postgame shows on the radio. That’s not some elitist thing. I don’t listen because by the end of the game I’m usually at the laptop, pecking away on a recap or some other sort of article. This, being an afternoon game, meant that the drivetime radio was all Royals. There are no shortage of lame, “This team isn’t trying!” opinions. My favorite was the caller who said he was tired of the Gatorade bath after the wins. According to the caller, this team should stop acting like they just won the World Series! Act like they’ve won before! I guess baseball is serious business, meant to be performed by serious men.
After the shitshow on the field, it was good to laugh.