KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Royals manager Ned Yost is not one who enjoys shaking up his batting order.
But with his offense mired in a horrendous three-week slump and the division title slipping away, Yost finally got out of his comfort zone.
Yost put speed at the top of the order (Alcides Escobar, Nori Aoki, Lorenzo Cain) and the bottom (Jarrod Dyson), and the Royals' slumbering offense finally awoke in a much-needed 7-1 win over Boston on Saturday night.
"I like it because we get a lot of speed in there," Cain said. "It puts pressure on the defense."
It's a lineup Yost likely will stick with for a while.
"Probably," Yost said. "It worked."
The Royals jumped to a quick 2-0, first-inning lead, added three more in the fourth, and that was plenty for Jeremy Guthrie, who cruised almost all night. Guthrie went eight innings and retired the last 17 batters he faced. He gave up just three hits and one unearned run.
"It was a good bounce-back performance for me," Guthrie said. "Last time they hit some balls in hard places. This time they hit balls right at us."
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3 UP
-- Esky's start. The new-look lineup got the Royals going right off the bat as Escobar hit a double down the left-field line leading off the Royals' first. Esky actually took some pitches in that at-bat, too. He came around to score on Aoki's single and the Royals' ailing offense got off to a great start. Esky doesn't mind hitting leadoff. "I like it anywhere the manager puts me," he said. "Hitting leadoff, you try to look at pitches and you try to get on any way you can. That's what I hope to do."
-- Aoki doki. If there is one Royal right now giving the team great at-bats, it is Aoki. With Esky on second and none out in the first, Aoki bounced a chopper over the third baseman and Esky scored. Aoki took second on the play. He got to third on a grounder and scored when catcher Christian Vazquez tried to pick him off and nailed him in the back with the throw; the ball trickled into left field and Aoki got up and trotted home. Aoki got yet another hit in the fifth.
-- Is Omar back? There was a time earlier this season when Yost was convinced Omar Infante was better suited for hitting down in the order because he was a good RBI guy. Then Infante got switched to the No. 2 spot and struggled for almost two months. On Saturday, Infante was down in the order at No. 7 and he had three hits and two RBI, and looked as comfortable at the plate as he has been in weeks. The guess here is that this is where Infante will stay the rest of the season. "We'll see," Yost said. "Going day to day with it."
3 DOWN
-- The errors keep coming. The Royals arguably have the best and most athletic defense in baseball. But lately they continue to boot the ball around. Third baseman Mike Moustakas let a grounder by Mookie Betts go right under his glove leading off the third for an error. And as has been the case quite a bit lately, too, the error hurt -- Betts eventually scored. That was the Royals' 21st error in the past 16 games. That has to stop.
-- Stop trying to kill the ball. Eric Hosmer likes to swing out of his shoes most times, and hey, we get that. But there are times when a nice, smooth swing and simple contact get the job done. The Royals had runners on second and third and none out in the fourth. The Red Sox were playing all their infielders way back, conceding the run, as Hosmer stepped up. All Hosmer needed was to put the ball in play on the infield. Instead, Hoz tried to park one near the Drury Inn across I-70. Predictably, he struck out.
-- No more. As hard as wins have been to come by lately, no reason to complain any more about this victory.
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
