There’s nothing like a narrow lead to keep the crowd in the game, and the Royals jumped off to one early. Solo shots from Ben Zobrist in the first and Mike Moustakas in the second put us on the board, and then the game settled in to a pitching duel.
The Blue Jays were having no luck against Yordano Ventura other than a one-run homer by Jose Bautista. Ah, but then it was Bautista again in the top of the eighth with a two-run blast that tied the game. Suddenly the insurance run we scored the previous inning loomed large. Fortunately at that point Ned Yost opted to stop ditzing around with the likes of Ryan Madsen and go directly to Wade Davis.
That of course put the game back in our hands in the bottom of the inning. Lorenzo Cain drew a lead-off walk, and Eric Hosmer came to the plate.
And here’s where things got good. Hosmer hit a looping single to right, and Cain was off running. Thanks to some careful observation, Mike Jirschle knew that in such situations Bautista tended to throw to the shortstop covering second rather than to the cut-off man. So when Cain came barreling around second and headed to third, the coach waved him on through.
The well-informed gamble paid off. The throw to the plate was late, and we were one run up. Of course with Davis back on the mound in the top of the ninth, the slim lead held up.
We were headed to the World Series.
For me at least this was the most overwhelming moment since the wild card win last year. I honestly didn’t think we’d ever make it this far. We seemed far more like the sort of team that would thrive in the regular season and then fail in a short series in October. Especially after our awful slump in September, we didn’t feel like the scrappy underdogs who’d best the big market teams and emerge victorious.
We do now.
BLUE JAYS (3) AT ROYALS (4) BLUE JAYS AB R H BI ROYALS AB R H BI Ben Revere 5 1 2 0 Alcides Escobar 4 0 1 0 Josh Donaldson 5 0 0 0 Ben Zobrist 3 1 1 1 Jose Bautista 4 2 2 3 Lorenzo Cain 3 1 1 0 Edwin Encarnacion 3 0 1 0 Eric Hosmer 4 0 1 1 Chris Colabello 4 0 1 0 Kendrys Morales 4 0 1 0 Troy Tulowitzki 4 0 0 0 Mike Moustakas 4 2 2 1 Russell Martin 3 0 1 0 Salvador Perez 4 0 0 0 Kevin Pillar 2 0 0 0 Alex Gordon 3 0 0 0 Ryan Goins 3 0 0 0 Alex Rios 3 0 2 1 Dioner Navarro 1 0 0 0 TOTALS 34 3 7 3 TOTALS 32 4 9 4 BLUE JAYS 000 100 020 -- 3 ROYALS 110 000 11x -- 4 LOB--BLUE JAYS 8, ROYALS 6. 2B--Edwin Encarnacion, Ben Revere. HR--Jose Bautista (2), Ben Zobrist, Mike Moustakas. SB--Kevin Pillar, Dalton Pompey (2), Alex Rios. BLUE JAYS IP H R ER BB SO HR David Price 6.67 5 3 3 1 8 2 Aaron Sanchez 0.33 2 0 0 0 0 0 Roberto Osuna 1.00 2 1 1 1 0 0 ROYALS Yordano Ventura 5.33 4 1 1 2 5 1 Kelvin Herrera 1.67 0 0 0 0 2 0 Ryan Madson 0.33 2 2 2 1 1 1 Wade Davis 1.67 1 0 0 1 3 0 WP--Wade Davis. SO--Russell Martin, Chris Colabello, Dioner Navarro, Troy Tulowitzki (2), Josh Donaldson (2), Ben Revere (2), Ryan Goins (2), Kendrys Morales, Alex Gordon (2), Alcides Escobar, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez (2). BB--Russell Martin, Edwin Encarnacion, Kevin Pillar (2), Ben Zobrist, Lorenzo Cain.
No comments:
Post a Comment