Game 18 vs. Baltimore

Based solely on the line score, I could have copied the last entry and pasted it in here. Once again the visitors drew first blood. And once again we made a decisive come-back in the bottom of the sixth. But there was a lot more to this game than that.

Manny Machado led off the first with what was ruled a catch at the wall by Lorenzo Cain. On a challenge, however, replay showed that the ball bounced out of Cain’s glove and hit the wall before coming to rest in his grip, making it a ground rule double. We’ve seen a lot of challenges this season, but that’s the first one I can recall where I thought “wow, that really did need to be reversed.” I’m just sorry it went against us, especially as Machado then scored on a two-run homer by Adam Jones.

Despite struggling at the plate in the early going, our guys hung in there. Mike Moustakas in particular was on fire. He made a “!!” play in the fifth and a “!” play in the sixth. Combine that with a home run in the bottom of the sixth, and he was definitely the guy of the game.

Speaking of the sixth, we batted around plus two. Omar Infante even hit his first of two triples in the game. Dramatic stuff!

ORIOLES (3) AT ROYALS (8)

ORIOLES              AB  R  H BI  ROYALS               AB  R  H BI
Manny Machado         4  1  1  0  Alcides Escobar       5  1  1  0  
Gerardo Parra         4  0  0  0  Ben Zobrist           4  2  2  0  
Adam Jones            4  2  2  2  Lorenzo Cain          5  0  3  2  
Chris Davis           3  0  0  0  Eric Hosmer           4  1  1  1  
Steve Clevenger       3  0  1  1  Kendrys Morales       3  0  0  0  
Matt Wieters          3  0  0  0  Mike Moustakas        4  1  1  2  
Jonathan Schoop       3  0  1  0  Salvador Perez        4  1  1  0  
Henry Urrutia         2  0  0  0  Alex Rios             4  1  2  0  
 Steve Pearce         1  0  0  0  Omar Infante          4  1  2  2  
Ryan Flaherty         3  0  0  0                                    
TOTALS               30  3  5  3  TOTALS               37  8 13  7

ORIOLES                       200 100 000 -- 3  
ROYALS                        001 007 00x -- 8  

LOB--ORIOLES 0, ROYALS 7. ERR--Ryan Flaherty. 2B--Steve
Clevenger, Manny Machado, Alex Rios, Eric Hosmer. 3B--Omar
Infante (2). HR--Adam Jones, Mike Moustakas.

 ORIOLES                         IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Ubaldo Jimenez                 5.67   10    7    7    1    3    1
Brad Brach                     1.00    2    1    1    0    0    0
Jorge Rondon                   1.33    1    0    0    1    2    0
 ROYALS                     
Kris Medlen                    6.00    5    3    3    0    6    1
Franklin Morales               2.00    0    0    0    0    0    0
Luke Hochevar                  1.00    0    0    0    0    2    0

SO--Gerardo Parra (2), Chris Davis (2), Matt Wieters (2),
Steve Clevenger, Manny Machado, Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo
Cain, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez (2). BB--Kendrys
Morales, Ben Zobrist.

Game 17 vs. Los Angeles of Anaheim

This one started off to be the sort of thing we all dreaded before last year. Shane Victorino led off the first with a double, coming around to score on another one by Mike Trout. In the past such a beginning could well have presaged a drawn-out, offense-free debacle ending in a one-run loss.

Indeed, that seemed to be how it was shaping up even with this year’s team in the game. Through the first five innings we managed one single, one walk and a couple of hit batters.

But then LA’s wheels came off in the bottom of the sixth. Ben Zobrist doubled and then scored on a pair of Angel errors. Then Eric Hosmer hit a two-run blast that put us ahead, where we stayed for the rest of the game. Additional small ball put another run on the board for us in the eighth, but it proved to be unnecessary insurance.

ANGELS (1) AT ROYALS (4)

ANGELS               AB  R  H BI  ROYALS               AB  R  H BI
Shane Victorino       2  1  1  0  Alcides Escobar       5  0  0  0  
 David Murphy         2  0  1  0  Ben Zobrist           4  1  2  0  
Kole Calhoun          3  0  0  0   Jarrod Dyson         0  0  0  0  
Mike Trout            3  0  2  1  Lorenzo Cain          4  1  1  1  
Albert Pujols         4  0  0  0  Eric Hosmer           4  1  1  2  
C.J. Cron             4  0  0  0  Kendrys Morales       2  0  0  0  
Johnny Giavotella     4  0  0  0  Mike Moustakas        1  0  0  0  
Carlos Perez          4  0  0  0  Alex Rios             4  0  1  0  
Conor Gillaspie       4  0  2  0  Omar Infante          4  0  0  0  
Taylor Featherston    2  0  1  0  Drew Butera           3  0  1  1  
 David DeJesus        1  0  0  0  *Paulo Orlando        0  1  0  0  
TOTALS               33  1  7  1  TOTALS               31  4  6  4

ANGELS                        100 000 000 -- 1  
ROYALS                        000 003 01x -- 4  

LOB--ANGELS 10, ROYALS 9. ERR--Jered Weaver, Albert Pujols,
Ben Zobrist. 2B--Shane Victorino, Conor Gillaspie, Mike
Trout, Ben Zobrist. HR--Eric Hosmer. HBP--Shane Victorino,
Kole Calhoun, Taylor Featherston, Drew Butera, Mike
Moustakas. SB--Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain.

 ANGELS                          IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Jered Weaver                   6.00    4    3    2    2    3    1
Fernando Salas                 0.67    1    0    0    0    0    0
Cesar Ramos                    0.33    0    1    1    2    0    0
Joe Smith                      1.00    1    0    0    0    0    0
 ROYALS                     
Danny Duffy                    6.00    5    1    1    0    2    0
Ryan Madson                    1.00    1    0    0    2    0    0
Kelvin Herrera                 1.00    0    0    0    0    1    0
Greg Holland                   1.00    1    0    0    0    3    0

SO--Shane Victorino, David DeJesus, Conor Gillaspie, Mike
Trout, Kole Calhoun, C.J. Cron, Kendrys Morales, Omar
Infante, Mike Moustakas. BB--Mike Trout, Kole Calhoun,
Kendrys Morales (2), Mike Moustakas (2).

Game 16 vs. Detroit

At the beginning of the season the Royals and Tigers looked to be the hot AL Central rivalry. Apparently that was based on an over-estimation of Detroit and a slight under-estimation of Minnesota. But on this particular evening the Tigers’ woes played to our advantage.

Despite the somewhat lopsided score, this was actually a really good game. In the top of the fourth Jarrod Dyson (subbing for Alex Gordon) ran down a long double and fired it Alcides Escobar at cut-off, who then gunned down James McCann at the plate. It was one of those plays that would have failed if it had gone even slightly differently. Those are such fun to watch.

Our runs came mostly from the long ball, which I admit isn’t my favorite kind of offense. But when it leads to a comfortable win, I’ll take what I can get.

TIGERS (1) AT ROYALS (6)

TIGERS               AB  R  H BI  ROYALS               AB  R  H BI
Anthony Gose          2  0  0  0  Alcides Escobar       4  0  0  0  
 Rajai Davis          1  0  0  1  Ben Zobrist           4  0  0  0  
Jose Iglesias         3  0  0  0  Lorenzo Cain          4  2  4  1  
Ian Kinsler           3  0  0  0  Eric Hosmer           4  2  1  2  
Victor Martinez       3  0  0  0  Kendrys Morales       3  1  0  0  
J.D. Martinez         2  0  0  0  Mike Moustakas        4  1  2  3  
Tyler Collins         3  0  1  0  Salvador Perez        3  0  1  0  
James McCann          4  0  0  0   Drew Butera          0  0  0  0  
Jefry Marte           4  1  1  0  Paulo Orlando         4  0  1  0  
Andrew Romine         4  0  1  0  Jarrod Dyson          3  0  0  0  
TOTALS               29  1  3  1  TOTALS               33  6  9  6

TIGERS                        000 000 100 -- 1  
ROYALS                        200 003 01x -- 6  

LOB--TIGERS 9, ROYALS 5. ERR--Tyler Collins, Ben Zobrist.
2B--Jefry Marte, Lorenzo Cain, Paulo Orlando. HR--Lorenzo
Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas. SACF--Rajai Davis.
SB--Eric Hosmer.

 TIGERS                          IP    H    R   ER   BB   SO   HR
Anibal Sanchez                 5.33    7    5    5    1    4    3
Neftali Feliz                  0.67    0    0    0    0    2    0
Al Alburquerque                1.00    0    0    0    0    1    0
Tom Gorzelanny                 1.00    2    1    0    1    1    0
 ROYALS                     
Yordano Ventura                6.00    1    0    0    6    8    0
Franklin Morales               0.33    2    1    1    1    0    0
Luke Hochevar                  2.67    0    0    0    0    3    0

SO--Victor Martinez, Ian Kinsler, Andrew Romine (2), J.D.
Martinez, Anthony Gose (2), Tyler Collins (2), Jefry Marte
(2), Kendrys Morales, Jarrod Dyson (3), Eric Hosmer,
Salvador Perez, Paulo Orlando (2). BB--Victor Martinez, Ian
Kinsler, Jose Iglesias, J.D. Martinez (2), Anthony Gose,
Tyler Collins, Kendrys Morales, Drew Butera.