Middle of lineup awakens (just in time?), making Royals 'a tough team to beat'
It had to happen sooner or later. After over a month of virtually no production, the middle of the Royals' lineup finally woke up Tuesday night in Cleveland.
The result was that after averaging 2.8 runs per game over a crucial 24-game stretch, the Royals suddenly erupted for seven runs in a stirring win over the Indians, a victory that pushed them ever so close to their first playoff spot since 1985.
Almost all of the offensive damage Tuesday came from the middle of the Royals' lineup, from Eric Hosmer to Billy Butler to Alex Gordon to Sal Perez to Omar Infante.
Consider what some from that group have been going through lately:
-- Butler recently endured a 2-for-32 slump.
-- Since Aug. 29, Gordon, once considered an AL MVP candidate, was hitting just .154.
-- Perez was hitting just .205 with no homers and four RBI since Sept. 1.
-- During a recent 21-game stretch, Infante hit just .228 with no homers and just one double.
"It's amazing we won as many games as we did during those weeks," manager Ned Yost said last weekend.
Throughout that agonizing offensive collapse, Royals players, particularly those in the middle of the lineup, insisted they would snap out of it.
"There's too many guys in here who can hit for this to go on forever," Butler said during the slump.
If the slump indeed has ended, perhaps just in time, the turning point was Tuesday.
-- Hosmer delivered two hits and scored two runs.
-- Butler had two hits, including an opposite-field double that one-hopped the fence, and scored three runs. Even Butler's final out was blistered -- a line drive caught by the second baseman.
-- Gordon, slumping as badly as any Royal, had two hits, including a two-run double that was roped to the alley in right-center.
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-- Perez put his wild-swinging ways to rest for one night and waited for a hitter's pitch, and subsequently smoked a belt-high fastball for a two-run double to the alley in left-center. That was probably Perez's hardest-hit ball since his homer on Sept. 1.
-- Even Infante joined in the party. He got the Royals on the board by pulling an inside fastball from Danny Salazar into the left-field corner for a two-run double.
"When we hit on all cylinders," Hosmer told reporters after the game, "we're a tough team to beat."
And wouldn't it be something if the Royals kept hitting on all cylinders for several more weeks?
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
