Everything is coming up Royals these days. Kansas City holds the biggest first-place division lead in MLB, and they just added Johnny Cueto and Ben Zobrist before the trade deadline.
Zobrist joining the Royals led to the natural conclusion that he might replace Omar Infante at second base, but manager Ned Yost insisted shortly after the trade was made that Kansas City’s newest addition would be playing the outfield. Apparently emboldened by the knowledge that he wasn’t losing his job, Infante played free and easy Tuesday night.
Not only did he get one of the Royals’ five hits in a 2-1 win over the Indians, Infante also made a bold play in the ninth inning with a one-run lead. On a ground ball up the middle by Cleveland’s Roberto Perez, Infante gloved the ball on the shortstop side of second base and with his momentum carrying him toward left field, flipped the ball with his glove to Alcides Escobar. Escobar then spun around to gun a throw to first base.
Cueto was certainly impressed with the defense that will be playing behind him. The ace pitcher is probably used to that sort of dazzling glove work, having played with the likes of Brandon Phillips and Zack Cosart in recent seasons. But those types of plays surely feel a lot more special when made for a first-place team charging toward the postseason and leaving the rest of the league in the dust.
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