The Royals jumped on top of the Baltimore Orioles 2-0 in the bottom of the 1st and never looked back.
Alcides Escobar reached on an infield single to deep short off of O's starter, Miguel Gonzalez, to lead off the inning. Norichika Aoki was hit by a pitch. Lorenzo Cain sacrificed the runners to 2nd and 3rd. Eric Hosmer grounded into what looked like a fielder's choice but a throwing error by Orioles catcher, Caleb Joseph allowed Escobar and Aoki to score. The O's got out of the inning but the damage was done.
Baltimore got a run back on a solo home run by Ryan Flaherty in the top of the 3rd to make it a 2-1 ball game but the Royals pitching staff took over and shut down the O's the rest of the way.
Jason Vargas went 5 1/3 innings for the win, allowing 1 earned run on 2 hits with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts. Kelvin Herrera allowed 1 hit and no runs in 1 2/3 innings of work. Wade Davis held Baltimore scoreless in the 8th and Greg Holland picked up his 4th save shutting down the Orioles in the top of the 9th.
Lorenzo Cain became the first #3 hitter to lay down a sacrifice bunt in the first inning in a postseason game since Steve Garvey did it in the 1984 World Series.
Ned Yost takes over the top spot for consecutive wins by a manager in a postseason series with his 8th consecutive win.
W.D. Barr's unique perspective on what's important in the world of Mexican Baseball!
Showing posts with label ALCS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ALCS. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
Royals Take Commanding 3-0 Lead in ALCS
The Kansas City Royals have won their seventh consecutive game in the 2014 American League playoffs. Jason Frasor got the win while Greg Holland picked up the save. Wei-Yin Chen suffered the loss for the Orioles.
Although Kansas City is up 3 games to none in the ALCS, Game 3 was not assured until Steve Pearce grounded out to second for the third out of the Orioles 9th inning.
Jeremy Guthrie started for the Royals and threw 5 innings of 3 hit ball giving up the lone O's run. He threw 94 pitches of which 63 were strikes. Wei-Yin Chen started for the Orioles and matched Guthrie pitch for pitch through 5 1/3 innings, giving up 7 hits with 1 walk and 4 strikouts while allowing 2 earned runs. Chen threw only 80 pitches and 53 of them were strikes. Both starters were around the plate all night.
The Orioles would get on the board first. Guthrie gave up back-to-back doubles to Steve Pearce and JJ Hardy. Pearce scored the only O's run in the game on Hardy's double and Baltimore led 1-0.
In the bottom of the 4th, Lorenzo Cain singled with one out. Eric Hosmer singled to right and Billy Butler walked to load the bases. Alex Gordon then grounded out to second to score Cain and the game was tied at 1.
Chen gave up a lead off single to Norichika Aoki in the Royal's half of the 6th. Jarrod Dyson entered the game as a pinch runner for Aoki. After Lorenzo Cain struck out, Eric Hosmer singled and Dyson moved to third. Billy Butler hit the second pitch he saw from O's reliever, Kevin Gausman, to deep left for a sacrifice fly that scored Dyson and the Royals had their first lead of the night at 2-1.
Kelvin Herrera worked a perfect 7th, striking out two. Wade Davis worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Royal's closer, Greg Holland, got Adam Jones to pop up to second, Nelson Cruz to foul out to right and Steve Pearce to hit into a ground out to second to preserve the win for Frasor and pick up his third save.
34 teams have been down 3 games to none in MLB playoff history and only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have come back to win and advance.
Ned Yost, manager of the Royals, joins Clint Hurdle as the only managers in MLB history to win their first 7 playoff games.
40,183 Royals fans watched their team get to within one game of the World Series. The ALCS continues tonight and a Royals win will have them in the World Series for the first time since winning it all in 1985.
Although Kansas City is up 3 games to none in the ALCS, Game 3 was not assured until Steve Pearce grounded out to second for the third out of the Orioles 9th inning.
Jeremy Guthrie started for the Royals and threw 5 innings of 3 hit ball giving up the lone O's run. He threw 94 pitches of which 63 were strikes. Wei-Yin Chen started for the Orioles and matched Guthrie pitch for pitch through 5 1/3 innings, giving up 7 hits with 1 walk and 4 strikouts while allowing 2 earned runs. Chen threw only 80 pitches and 53 of them were strikes. Both starters were around the plate all night.
The Orioles would get on the board first. Guthrie gave up back-to-back doubles to Steve Pearce and JJ Hardy. Pearce scored the only O's run in the game on Hardy's double and Baltimore led 1-0.
In the bottom of the 4th, Lorenzo Cain singled with one out. Eric Hosmer singled to right and Billy Butler walked to load the bases. Alex Gordon then grounded out to second to score Cain and the game was tied at 1.
Chen gave up a lead off single to Norichika Aoki in the Royal's half of the 6th. Jarrod Dyson entered the game as a pinch runner for Aoki. After Lorenzo Cain struck out, Eric Hosmer singled and Dyson moved to third. Billy Butler hit the second pitch he saw from O's reliever, Kevin Gausman, to deep left for a sacrifice fly that scored Dyson and the Royals had their first lead of the night at 2-1.
Kelvin Herrera worked a perfect 7th, striking out two. Wade Davis worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Royal's closer, Greg Holland, got Adam Jones to pop up to second, Nelson Cruz to foul out to right and Steve Pearce to hit into a ground out to second to preserve the win for Frasor and pick up his third save.
34 teams have been down 3 games to none in MLB playoff history and only the 2004 Boston Red Sox have come back to win and advance.
Ned Yost, manager of the Royals, joins Clint Hurdle as the only managers in MLB history to win their first 7 playoff games.
40,183 Royals fans watched their team get to within one game of the World Series. The ALCS continues tonight and a Royals win will have them in the World Series for the first time since winning it all in 1985.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Can the Orioles Come Back From an 0-2 Deficit?
On paper the Orioles should be the team with the 2 game advantage, They won the American League East by 12 Games. On paper, the Royals couldn't hit a home run off a "tee" this year. They finished last in the American League in home runs.
Billy Butler stole a base. On paper he couldn't steal a base with a 45' head start. Butler stole a base.
So...should you count the Orioles out? On paper, no team has come back from losing the first two games of a 7 game series at home and advanced to the World Series.
But we don't play the games on paper. The Orioles have great pitching, great hitting and good defense. The Royals do too.
Game 3 of the ALCS on Tuesday night should be a great game. The Royal's fans yearn for a winner. They are reliving 1985, the last time the Royals even made the playoffs.
Ryan Fagan, of Sporting News, has a very good story about this series. Be sure to read it here before popping the champaign for the Royals. But, don't count the Royals out either.
I could probably be less sure of the outcome of this ALCS but I doubt it!
Billy Butler stole a base. On paper he couldn't steal a base with a 45' head start. Butler stole a base.
So...should you count the Orioles out? On paper, no team has come back from losing the first two games of a 7 game series at home and advanced to the World Series.
But we don't play the games on paper. The Orioles have great pitching, great hitting and good defense. The Royals do too.
Game 3 of the ALCS on Tuesday night should be a great game. The Royal's fans yearn for a winner. They are reliving 1985, the last time the Royals even made the playoffs.
Ryan Fagan, of Sporting News, has a very good story about this series. Be sure to read it here before popping the champaign for the Royals. But, don't count the Royals out either.
I could probably be less sure of the outcome of this ALCS but I doubt it!
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Royals Take Game 1 of ALCS with Extra Inning Win in Baltimore
The Kansas City Royals, in this postseason, have doubled the rate at which they hit home runs during the regular season. Almost 4% of their at bats have resulted in home runs.
Coming into this postseason no Royal hitter had ever hit a go ahead home run in extra innings. These Royals have done it three times. Alcides Escobar homered last night. He had only 3 HRs in 500+ at bats during the regular season.
Why all the talk about home runs. The Royals didn't hit many HRs during the season. They won the small ball way. They won with speed on the basepaths, good bunting, timely hitting and good pitching.
Alex Gordon of the Royals had this to say about the power surge, "We know we're capable of hitting home runs. We didn't do it during the regular season, but it doesn't really matter. This is the postseason and we're starting to swing the bats better now."
After 162 regular season games it's nice to know the Royals are finally warming up.
Kansas City threatened to walk away with game 1 early when they scored 4 runs in the top of the third. With one out, Alcides Escobar sent a Chris Tillman 0-2 pitch over the wall in left for a 1-0 lead. Norichika Aoki singled to left and Lorenzo Cain drew a four pitch walk. Billy Butler beat out an infield single to load the bases. Alex Gordon then worked the count full before doubling to right to clear the bases and drive in 3 of his 4 runs on the night. The Ryals led 4-0 after their half of the 3rd.
Baltimore got a run back in the bottom of the 3rd. Nick Markakis doubled off of James Shields. Adam Jones singled to drive in Markakis to narrow the lead to 4-1.
In the top of the 5th, Lorenzo Cain hit a lead off double to right. Cain moved to third on an Eric Hosmer ground out to second. Tommy Hunter relieved Orioles starter Chris Tillman and Billy Butler hit a sac fly to center to score Cain for the 5-1 lead.
Baltimore came roaring back off Shields in the bottom of the 5th. Nick Markakis singled to left and Alejandro De Aza singled to right. Adam Jones hit into a fielder's choice that got Markakis at third. Nelson Cruz doubled to score De Aza and the Orioles had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Steve Pearce walked to load the bases. After JJ Hardy struck out, Ryan Flaherty singled to drive in Jones and Cruz and the lead was now 5-4.
Brandon Finnegan replaced Shields to start the bottom of the 6th. Lead off hitter Jonathan Schoop waited out an 8 pitch walk. Nick Markakis singled and the Orioles had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Alejandro De Aza reached on an infield single to score Schoop and that would be all for Finnegan. Kelvin Herrera replaced Finnegan and got Adams to hit into a fielder's choice and Nelson Cruz to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, but the Orioles had tied the game at 5.
The scored remained knotted at 5 until the top of the 10th. Darren O'Day in relief of Zach Britton gave up a lead off home run to Alex Gordon and walked Salvador Perez. Buck Showalter replaced O'Day with Brian Matusz. Mike Moustakas worked the count to 2-2 before parking a Matusz pitch into the bleachers in right center.. the Royals had an 8-5 lead through 9 1/2 innings.
Greg Holland came in for the Royals to close out the victory. He quickly got two outs then Ryan Flaherty singled. Jimmy Paredes, hitting for Nick Hundley, walked. Delmon Young, pinch hitting for Jonathan Schoop, singled to score Flaherty. The Royals lead was down to 8-6. Holland got Nick Markakis to ground out to second to preserve the Royals 4th extra inning victory in their last 5 games.
Wade davis picked up the win for Kansas City while Dan O'Day took the loss for the Orioles. Greg Holland recorded the save.
Coming into this postseason no Royal hitter had ever hit a go ahead home run in extra innings. These Royals have done it three times. Alcides Escobar homered last night. He had only 3 HRs in 500+ at bats during the regular season.
Why all the talk about home runs. The Royals didn't hit many HRs during the season. They won the small ball way. They won with speed on the basepaths, good bunting, timely hitting and good pitching.
Alex Gordon of the Royals had this to say about the power surge, "We know we're capable of hitting home runs. We didn't do it during the regular season, but it doesn't really matter. This is the postseason and we're starting to swing the bats better now."
After 162 regular season games it's nice to know the Royals are finally warming up.
Kansas City threatened to walk away with game 1 early when they scored 4 runs in the top of the third. With one out, Alcides Escobar sent a Chris Tillman 0-2 pitch over the wall in left for a 1-0 lead. Norichika Aoki singled to left and Lorenzo Cain drew a four pitch walk. Billy Butler beat out an infield single to load the bases. Alex Gordon then worked the count full before doubling to right to clear the bases and drive in 3 of his 4 runs on the night. The Ryals led 4-0 after their half of the 3rd.
Baltimore got a run back in the bottom of the 3rd. Nick Markakis doubled off of James Shields. Adam Jones singled to drive in Markakis to narrow the lead to 4-1.
In the top of the 5th, Lorenzo Cain hit a lead off double to right. Cain moved to third on an Eric Hosmer ground out to second. Tommy Hunter relieved Orioles starter Chris Tillman and Billy Butler hit a sac fly to center to score Cain for the 5-1 lead.
Baltimore came roaring back off Shields in the bottom of the 5th. Nick Markakis singled to left and Alejandro De Aza singled to right. Adam Jones hit into a fielder's choice that got Markakis at third. Nelson Cruz doubled to score De Aza and the Orioles had runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out. Steve Pearce walked to load the bases. After JJ Hardy struck out, Ryan Flaherty singled to drive in Jones and Cruz and the lead was now 5-4.
Brandon Finnegan replaced Shields to start the bottom of the 6th. Lead off hitter Jonathan Schoop waited out an 8 pitch walk. Nick Markakis singled and the Orioles had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Alejandro De Aza reached on an infield single to score Schoop and that would be all for Finnegan. Kelvin Herrera replaced Finnegan and got Adams to hit into a fielder's choice and Nelson Cruz to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, but the Orioles had tied the game at 5.
The scored remained knotted at 5 until the top of the 10th. Darren O'Day in relief of Zach Britton gave up a lead off home run to Alex Gordon and walked Salvador Perez. Buck Showalter replaced O'Day with Brian Matusz. Mike Moustakas worked the count to 2-2 before parking a Matusz pitch into the bleachers in right center.. the Royals had an 8-5 lead through 9 1/2 innings.
Greg Holland came in for the Royals to close out the victory. He quickly got two outs then Ryan Flaherty singled. Jimmy Paredes, hitting for Nick Hundley, walked. Delmon Young, pinch hitting for Jonathan Schoop, singled to score Flaherty. The Royals lead was down to 8-6. Holland got Nick Markakis to ground out to second to preserve the Royals 4th extra inning victory in their last 5 games.
Wade davis picked up the win for Kansas City while Dan O'Day took the loss for the Orioles. Greg Holland recorded the save.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Royals and Orioles Got to the ALCS by Different Paths
Jerry Crasnick of ESPN Sports has an excellent article on the Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles and how they got to this years ALCS.
The series, that starts Friday the 10th, pits idea against idea, strength against strangth and budget against budget.
While Baltimore relies heavily on power hitting and the long ball, the Royals, out of necessity, rely on small, defense and pitching.
Read Crasnick's story here.
The series, that starts Friday the 10th, pits idea against idea, strength against strangth and budget against budget.
While Baltimore relies heavily on power hitting and the long ball, the Royals, out of necessity, rely on small, defense and pitching.
Read Crasnick's story here.
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