When Alice Cooper threw out the ceremonial first pitch, we should have known right then that we were in for a strange evening. Though it was a lot of fun to watch, this game was one of the weirdest I’ve ever seen.
The first inning was normal enough. Indeed, it was remarkable only in the absence of runs scored. We’d gone nearly a month without seeing a scoreless first.
Then in the second Jeff Francoeur struck out looking. He didn’t agree with the call (which Ned Yost later said was in fact a ball significantly inside). Unfortunately, he really really didn’t agree with the call. By the time a player has redrawn the inside of the batter’s box with his bat, an ejection is generally close at hand. So the Thursday night Frenchy Quarter would have to content themselves with Mitch Maier’s back for the rest of the game.
Both sides went quietly in the third. However, I happened to note that the Brewers were playing in extremely close at third on just about every pitch. Seriously, third baseman Aramis Ramirez spent the majority of the game with infield grass under his feet. As a defensive strategy, I get that with Jarrod Dyson and Humberto Quintero. But they played Alex Gordon and Billy Butler the same way. Do the Royals really have that big a reputation for bunting whether or not the situation calls for it?
In the top of the fourth things heated up again. Luke Hochevar hit lead-off batter Norichika Aoki. When Nyjer Morgan tried to bunt Aoki over, both Hochevar and Quintero swore to home plate umpire Dan Iassogna that the ball struck Morgan outside the box. Yost later admitted the replay showed otherwise, but in the heat of the moment he dashed out, had a red-faced screaming match with Iassogna and got ejected. As I can’t remember the last time I saw an actual ejection live and in person, the two this evening would alone have been enough to make this a strange one.
But it got even odder from there. Morgan and Aoki combined for a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play, but then Ryan Braun hit one into the Royals’ bullpen. In the bottom of the fifth we got to see the rare strikeout-wild-pitch combo, uncommon because generally major league batters – even the Royals – don’t swing at pitches so bad the catcher can’t stop them cleanly.
In the bottom of the sixth Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer, and in the top of the seventh Ramirez answered with a solo shot. Tied at two, all scoring on balls hit over the fence.
The Brewers managed some National-League-style station-to-station in the top of the eighth, combining a single and a sac bunt to put Carlos Gomez in scoring position. Yost (or Yost’s unejected proxy) decided Hochevar was done, and in came Jose Mijares. When pitch hitter Cody Ransom singled in the run, the game started to smell like doom.
In the bottom of the ninth, Maier got the game’s second strikeout-wild-pitch. Mike Moustakas grounded out to first but moved the runner to second. Then Alcides Escobar struck out, and I started packing to go. I think I would have put in a pinch hitter for Dyson (the one thing Yuniesky Betancourt might actually be good for), but no.
Right call, as it turned out. By some miracle, Brewers closer John Axford walked Dyson. And at this point the Royals did put in a pinch hitter, Brayan Pena for the hitless Quintero. With runners moving on contact, Pena hit a line drive into the left field corner. Maier scored easily, and Dyson with his excellent speed rounded third.
Then a mess of mistakes happened at once. Pena headed for second and looked for all the world as if he’d end up caught in a run-down and we’d go to extras. But when shortstop Edwin Maysonet fired to Ricky Weeks, the second baseman must have been trying to watch both Pena and Dyson at the same time. The ball struck his chest and rolled away. By the time he recovered and threw wide to home, Dyson was sliding across the plate. The game ended with much jubilation on the field.
Obviously that was the Play of the Game. The Player of the Game was Hard Luck Hochevar, who threw well and deserved something better than a no decision. This was just our second walk-off win of the season (the first was last night’s bases loaded walk to Moustakas in the bottom of the 11th) and our first three-game series sweep. Odd odd odd. Fun, but odd.
The box score: BREWERS (3) AT ROYALS (4) BREWERS AB R H BI ROYALS AB R H BI Norichika Aoki 3 0 1 0 Alex Gordon 4 1 1 0 Nyjer Morgan 3 0 0 0 Chris Getz 4 0 1 0 Cody Ransom 1 0 1 1 Billy Butler 2 0 0 0 Ryan Braun 4 1 1 1 Eric Hosmer 4 1 1 2 Aramis Ramirez 4 1 1 1 Jeff Francoeur 1 0 0 0 Corey Hart 4 0 1 0 Mitch Maier 3 1 0 0 George Kottaras 3 0 1 0 Mike Moustakas 4 0 0 0 Martin Maldonado 0 0 0 0 Alcides Escobar 3 0 0 0 Rickie Weeks 4 0 0 0 Jarrod Dyson 3 1 1 0 Carlos Gomez 2 1 1 0 Humberto Quintero 3 0 0 0 Edwin Maysonet 2 0 0 0 Brayan Pena 1 0 1 2 TOTALS 30 3 7 3 TOTALS 32 4 5 4 BREWERS 000 100 110 -- 3 ROYALS 000 002 002 -- 4 LOB--BREWERS 4, ROYALS 6. HR--Ryan Braun, Aramis Ramirez, Eric Hosmer. HBP--Norichika Aoki, Alcides Escobar. SACB--Edwin Maysonet. SB--Carlos Gomez, Alcides Escobar. BREWERS IP H R ER BB SO HR Shaun Marcum 7 2-3 4 2 2 2 5 1 Francisco Rodriguez 0 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 0 John Axford 0 2-3 1 2 2 1 2 0 ROYALS Luke Hochevar 7 1-3 6 3 3 1 5 2 Jose Mijares 0 1-3 1 0 0 0 0 0 Kelvin Herrera 0 1-3 0 0 0 0 1 0 Tim Collins 1 0 0 0 1 2 0 WP--John Axford, Shaun Marcum. SO--Ryan Braun (2), Corey Hart, Nyjer Morgan, George Kottaras (2), Aramis Ramirez, Rickie Weeks, Jeff Francoeur, Mitch Maier (2), Alcides Escobar, Jarrod Dyson, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas (2). BB--Carlos Gomez, Martin Maldonado, Billy Butler (2), Jarrod Dyson. Buck seat: W-- (School administrator? Really?) Guard: K State AFROTC Anthem: School choir (so not Alice Cooper) Umpires: H: Iasssogna 1: Bucknor 2: Miller 3: Scott Time: 7:11 Temp: 87
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