This game was ugly.
Then it wasn’t.
It ended up beautiful.
The story of this game for the vast majority of it was James Paxton and his pursuit of a complete game in a modicum of pitches. He threw eight in the first and nine in the second. It got worse. He was at 28 pitches through four innings and 35 through five. At that point, the Royals had grounded into three double plays and looked about as flaccid as you can get.
In the sixth, they saw a few more pitches. In the seventh, they saw a few more pitches. But it was still nothing.
Then they finally broke through in the eighth inning with some help from the man who was carving them up. First Salvador Perez singled. Then Cheslor Cuthbert singled. The Royals had a rally going for the first time all night. After Brett Eibner popped out, Alcides Escobar came to the plate and hit a ball back to the mound. It looked like an inning ending double play, but Paxton chose to just go to first to get Escobar. It was a curious decision at the time that became even more curious when Paulo Orlando delivered a single to center to score two and cut the Royals deficit to 3-2.
Brooks Pounders came in to work the top of the ninth and did so flawlessly, setting up the dramatics. Whit Merrifield, mired in a slump, hit a ball just past a diving Kyle Seager at third base for a double. Kendrys Morales was hit by a pitch and replaced on the base paths by Jarrod Dyson. Eric Hosmer struck out in a forgettable at bat. Then it was up to Perez, who had two hits already after going 0 for his last 23.
We all know what happened by now. He belted a double to right-center, plating both Merrifield and Dyson. The Royals mobbed him on the field and they had their 44th victory of the year, gaining a game on both Cleveland and Detroit in the process.
You may notice that I’ve said nothing of what happened when the Mariners hit. That’s because I didn’t want to just mix what Danny Duffy did in with a mostly hapless offense. He was fantastic. He went 6.1 innings, gave up two runs and seven hits while striking out seven and walking just one, his last batter.
Duffy had good stuff, but he seemed to fight some things at time throughout this one, and he still was great. He’s now made 11 starts since moving back into the rotation, thrown 63.2 innings and given up just 53 hits. He’s struck out 73 while walking just 12 and has a 2.97 ERA. Those numbers are something to behold.
Unfortunately, one of Twitter’s whipping boys, Joakim Soria, gave up a home run to Nelson Cruz in the eighth inning that made the game seem completely out of reach.
Luckily for the Royals, this team doesn’t quit. This game isn’t a season saver or anything, but it’s one we’ll remember for quite some time.
Gordon’s Struggles Continue
In spite of the happiness of the victory, the struggles of the Royals leadoff hitter, Alex Gordon, continue. He did walk in the first inning, which was nice to see, but it was another game full of weak contact. It looked a few days ago like he was about to break out of this, but he has looked just awful the last few games. I know this much, if the Royals are going to make a run, they’re going to need Gordon to step up.
Since returning from the disabled list, he’s hit .167/.259/.313. That’s not going to cut it.
Young to the Bullpen
Before the game, Ned Yost announced that Chris Young will be moved to the bullpen for the time being after all of his struggles. The start on Sunday will be made by either Brian Flynn or Dillon Gee. Flynn was warming up at one point during Thursday’s game, but that doesn’t necessarily give us an answer of who will be starting. It’s good to see the Royals made the right choice here, though.
Up Next
Yordano Ventura will take on Hisashi Iwakuma in game two of the series on Friday night at 7:15.