It’s time we all admit we have no idea what the hell is going to happen in these games. If what we witnessed Friday night doesn’t show us that, nothing ever will.
We know the Orioles are mashers, leading all of baseball in home runs, and the Royals, well, not so much. So, of course Kansas City continues their post-season power surge, knocking three out of the park – including one by the normally powerless Alcides Escobar – to Baltimore’s zero.
The bottom of the sixth alone was complete madness. Jonathan Schoop – he of the 2.7% walk rate on the year – drew a crucial walk to lead the frame off. Later, it looked as if Sal Perez had picked him off, but Escobar’s throw ricocheted off Schoop’s back and allowed him to slide into third safely.
On the next pitch Alejandro De Aza blooped a single into no-man’s land in the middle of the infield and Schoop came around to score the tying run.
On and on, the randomness went.
Including this little fact that most probably wouldn’t have predicted: Ned Yost managed that game pretty damn well. You could argue he stuck with James Shields a little longer than needed, but staying with your top arm in the playoffs a smidge too long, especially when you’re just trying to get him through five innings, is hardly the biggest sin a manager can make.
One might say that when you have the talent Yost does in the pen, everything just works itself out. However, Yost deserves credit for not overthinking things. After Brandon Finnegan proved ineffective, Yost went with his power arms, using both Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis for multiple innings, and they both rewarded him by retiring every batter they faced, with Davis looking especially impressive in his two frames.
As I mentioned earlier, if you wanted to pick nits with Yost’s handling of the staff on Friday, you could suggest that he should have pulled Shields earlier than he did. Shields looked off for much of the fifth, including against Nelson Cruz.
Shields threw a nice fastball low and in to get Cruz down 1-2 in the count:
He then followed that up with his bread-and-butter change up, but missed badly with his location, leaving it over the plate when he likely would have preferred it more where the previous fastball was located, possibly even in the dirt:
Cruz ripped it for an RBI double and Steve Pearce followed with a seven-pitch walk. That’s when a mound visit was made and you could make a solid case for pulling Shields. It didn’t happen and he allowed two more runs in the inning before wrapping up the inning and his night.
But in this instance, I have a tough time making a big stink that Yost kept Shields on the mound. He looked a tad off, but when you have your ‘ace’ on the hill, you tend to lean towards believing he can quickly work things out and get back on track. It didn’t happen for Shields, but Yost recovered nicely by trusting the bullpen arms that have been a huge part in bringing the Royals this far. In an offseason marred by odd, and sometimes just bad, decisions by managers, Yost deserves credit for a strong game from the bench on Friday night.
Pretty much the only thing that made sense on the night was Alex Gordon making a dazzling defensive play in left field, then having a 3-for-4 night at the plate, with a huge three-RBI double and a big solo home run that gave the Royals a 6-5 lead in the tenth.
But then that was balanced out by Mike Moustakas. Moustakas played so poorly at one point during the season that he was sent down to the minors and people were placing the ‘bust’ label on him – like many did with Gordon not too long ago. Moustakas slugged .361 on the year and certainly did little to dispel the suggestion that the Royals needed an upgrade at third base. Of course, in these playoffs, that means Moustakas has slugged .750 in five games, including a crucial two-run homer soon after Gordon put Kansas City ahead.
This game was just a microcosm of the playoffs thus far. It was a thrilling game that went back and forth, marking the 12th game of 17 in this postseason that was either decided by just one run or went into extra-innings. And, of course, it was filled with the completely unpredictable. On paper, it looked as though the Tigers and Angels would be playing in this series. And it’s pretty easy to argue that the Nationals and Dodgers are the two most talented teams in the NL. However, all four of those teams are at home right now and we’re left with witnessing the unexpected.
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