Pesky Royals rally again, nearly steal one, but ultimately fall to Cards in 11
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This would have been a great one to steal.
The Cardinals, in control all night behind ace Adam Wainwright, suddenly were in danger of blowing it to the suddenly pesky Royals, who put up two runs in the ninth to tie it 2-2.
But with the winning run on second and one out, Mike Moustakas was called out on strikes. Then, unfortunately, shortstop Alcides Escobar smoked a line drive that settled into Cards shortstop Jhonny Peralta's glove. The Cards went on to get three runs in the 11th and won 5-2.
But realistically, this one ended when Esky's liner didn't find a hole.
"I thought when I hit it that it was through and we won," Escobar said. "But then I looked up and I saw it (getting caught)."
At that point, Royals skipper Ned Yost was nearly out of bodies. He already had pinch run for Billy Butler and Sal Perez, and his bullpen was depleted from overuse in the past three days.
"We just ran out of pitchers," Yost said.
After squeezing one inning out of closer Greg Holland in the 10th, Yost turned to Kelvin Herrera, who seemed a bit gassed and wound up giving up a walk, two hits and three runs.
But Yost, for one of the rare times this season, didn't seem too distressed after the tough loss.
"I just think there's a good feeling to the offense right now," he said. "There's a feeling of confidence in there (the clubhouse)."
3 UP
-- Vargy pitched a great game. Maybe it wasn't great, but Jason Vargas lasted eight innings against the Cardinals and truly battled. He gave up nine hits but held the Cards to two runs. He walked two and struck out three. Vargas battled through numerous jams and had only two clean innings.
There was value here, even in a loss -- Yost needed Vargy to go deep in the game to save a tired bullpen, and Vargy did just that.
"I thought I made some good pitches when I needed to," Vargas said, "and our defense played great behind me. And it's encouraging to see our guys come back the way they did."
-- Esky not fooled. While many of the Royals looked off-balance and frustrated against Wainwright, Escobar looked calm and up to the challenge against a top starter. Esky broke up Wainwright's bid for a no-hitter with a leadoff single in the sixth, waiting patiently on a changeup and stroking a single to right. Esky then mashed a line drive into the left-field corner in the eighth for a double.
"He's such a good pitcher," Escobar said. "He left a curveball up to me and I put a good swing on it."
Esky had another terrific at-bat in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied 2-2. With the winning run on second, Esky lined out to shortstop against closer Trevor Rosenthal. A foot either way and the Royals walk off with the win in the ninth.
-- Gordon plays the game the right way. Alex Gordon continues to carry the Royals in all phases offensively. He walked in his first at-bat, the only baserunner off Wainwright through five innings. He doubled in the seventh. In the ninth, he patiently drew a walk off Rosenthal. Then when Perez came up next with the bases loaded and no outs and hit a grounder to third, Gordon broke up what looked like a sure double play by running hard into second baseman Mark Ellis, who couldn't get the relay throw off to first. A run scored and an out was preserved, setting up Lorenzo Cain's game-tying RBI single to right.
"Just a great hustle play by Gordo," Yost said.
3 DOWN
-- Not conclusive? Come on. You might have heard the roar from Royals fans when they showed a replay of the close play at first in the seventh involving Cain. With runners on first and second and one out, Cain hit a sharp grounder to second. Ellis fielded it and flipped to Peralta. The throw back to first appeared late, but Cain was called out. Yost challenged, and when the replay flashed on the stadium scoreboard, Royals fans erupted in cheers as Cain appeared to beat it. But the boys in New York ruled otherwise, stating that the call would stand, meaning it was inconclusive. Yikes.
Did Cain think he beat the throw? "Hey, I've lost too many challenges this year already," he said, smiling and shaking his head. "I don't know. Maybe."
-- Missed chances. As good as Wainwright was for the Cards, the Royals did have a few chances before the ninth to do some slight damage. In the second, Gordon walked and went to second when Perez, instead of trying to pull the ball as he often does, went the other way and advanced the runner with a groundout to second. But Cain grounded out and Moustakas hit a soft lineout to short. The Royals threatened in the sixth when Escobar singled and Jarrod Dyson sacrificed. But Omar Infante, who went 0 for 5 in a rare appearance in the leadoff spot, grounded out and Eric Hosmer struck out. We've already mentioned the first-and-second-and-one-out situation in the eighth that fizzled on the Cain/challenge play. Then in the eighth, Escobar doubled, but Dyson struck out and Infante hit a weak fly to center.
-- Hoz, where have you gone? Hosmer continues to slump. He struck out four times Wednesday and now is 7 for his last 45. In that span he has only two RBI. To his credit, Hoz did hustle on his last strikeout and made it to first on a wild pitch. That set the stage for the nice Royals rally in the ninth. But imagine where the Royals might be if he was hitting like the old Hoz from the second half of 2013.
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
