That the Royals scored six runs in an inning didn’t just lose—they relinquished the lead in the very next half-inning, before even recording an out—is some real Royals BS, even for the 2018 version of the franchise.
The mind fairly reels at the myriad ways Ned Yost’s hapless band has strolled to [checks notes] sweet God, 94 losses? I would’ve bet higher. Anyway, the Royals have been walked-off, punished by the likes of Tim Anderson and goodness knows how many other Quad-A All-Stars, posted a minus-100 run-differential at home and you know what, that’s enough. Either way, this was a special one. Much like the weekend they turned Matt Davidson into Stan Musial, you always remember the greats.
I don’t like to poke fingers, which is great because there are no fingers to poke at anyone here; eight of the nine hitters in the lineup got at least one hit, and Jorge Bonifacio had three. But unfortunately, with the exception Eric Skoglund (in his first MLB appearance since May and looking like Walter Johnson compared to everyone else), nobody Ned found to throw the ball seemed able to string together more than a few outs at a time, and that’s how 10-6 losses to the Minnesota Twins happen.
That six-spot wasn’t the game’s opening salvo—the Twins put up a crooked number in the second inning, as starter Heath Fillmyer wavered back and forth between losing his control (lead off walk to Logan Forsythe, walk to Robbie Grossman to load the bases) and surrendering hits to Mitch Garver and Ehire Adrianza, the latter plating two to give the Twins a lead. It’s around this point I should’ve found something better to do with my Friday. Alas, I’ll never get back wasted hours of an ill-spent youth, and I won’t get these back either.
The third inning was all for the Royals. With one down, eight consecutive Royals reached base in some fashion. Whit Merrifield singled and Adalberto Mondesi walked, with both scoring via Alex Gordon double. Hunter Dozier then walked, and moved to third on Bonifacio’s run-scoring single which brought home Gordon.
Then Salvador Perez homered. 6-2 Good Guys, on Perez’s 17th career home run at Target Field. Things looked promising—heck, the next two Royals even reached, with Rosell Herrera walking and Alcides Escobar knocking a single. Awesome!
For almost five minutes.
The Twins third went like this: Jorge Polanco single, Eddie Rosario single, Forsythe single (scoring Polanco), Jake Cave double (scoring Rosario), Garver groundout (scoring Forsythe), passed ball to score Cave. Four runs, tie game in the blink of an eye. Fillmyer was relieved after 2.1 innings, six hits, three walks and six earned. Probably back to the bullpen for him.
Thank heavens it would get worse from there. Two innings later, Forsythe got on base via Escobar error, moved to third on Cave’s single and took the lead on Garver’s ground out. Kepler turned Glenn Sparkman’s first-pitch slider into a run-scoring single; Sparkman had taken over to start the fourth, but wouldn’t last the fifth after that performance.
A combination of Skoglund and Jerry Vasto kept the Twins at bay for a couple of innings, but lol that wasn’t going to end the Twins day. Wily Peralta replaced Skoglund and Rosario deposited his first offering over the right field fence to put a crooked number in the opposing run column for the… 16th time this season? Would’ve expected that number to be higher too.
Did the Royals have a runner advance past first base over the final three innings, in an effort to perhaps turn this into a contest? Dear reader, they did not. After eight straight reached base in the third, six Royals total got on the basepaths the rest of the game. I don’t do endings well.
Your Tweet of Despair
It’s 10:20. Only the 7th inning. Two teams playing with nothing at stake, and #Royals have to challenge. #wtf #areyoukiddingme
— Shawn Ed (@iShibs21) September 8, 2018
The Bright Spot: If he plays his cards right and finishes September on a high note, it’s possible that Bonifacio will break .250 after looking lost as last year’s Easter eggs for wide parts of July and August.
The Nadir: Anyone who attempted to pitch for the Royals and was not named Eric Skoglund.
The Next Step: They’re planning to do this again tomorrow night, at 6:10 p.m. (CT) this time, because everybody plays 162 of these things for some reason. Jose Berrios, whose 6.65 ERA over the last five starts is not the performance of a man who was a deserving All-Star, will be opposed by Jorge Lopez, who has none of those qualifications, positive or negative.