Royals rip Cleveland, go three games up on Seattle for final playoff spot
The real countdown is starting.
With a sensational 7-1 win over the Indians on Tuesday night, the Royals cut their magic number to the playoffs to just three.
Any combination of three wins for the Royals or losses by the Mariners, who lost to Toronto again, and Kansas City will make the playoffs for the first time since 1985.
The Royals also put the pesky Indians, a thorn in KC's side for two years, on the brink of elimination. The Indians' magic number to be eliminated is now one.
The Tigers, after blowing a 3-0 lead, rallied to beat the White Sox and keep a one-game lead over the Royals.
Manager Ned Yost said he didn't know the magic number for the wild card.
"I don't care right now," Yost said on the FOX Sports Kansas City Royals Live postgame show. "I'm worried about winning the division."
The Royals accomplished all this Tuesday with another terrific start from Yordano Ventura, who shut out the Tribe for seven innings. In his last two starts, Ventura has given up just one run in 14 innings.
"Unbelievable, man," catcher Sal Perez told FSKC's Joel Goldberg after the game. "He really kept the ball down."
Ventura now has 11 straight quality starts. He will finish the regular season Sunday against the White Sox.
The Royals' middle of the order also perked up for the first time in a month: Four through seven in the lineup hammered out eight hits, scored seven runs and drove in five runs.
And that gave Ventura plenty of room for error.
3 UP
-- Omar's big hit. The Royals were having all kinds of trouble hitting against Danny Salazar through three innings. In fact, their first six outs were all strikeouts. But with two on and one out in the fourth, Omar Infante, who has been in a terrible slump, yanked a fastball into the left-field corner for a two-run double to get the offense going. Infante now has a career-high 66 RBI. Huge hit to break the ice.
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-- Billy ball. Let's not forget that Billy Butler got that inning going by patiently drawing a leadoff walk. Butler also hit a classic Billy double in the fifth with two out and Eric Hosmer on second. Butler drove a Salazar fastball over the right fielder's head and it bounced into the stands for a ground-rule double. Oh, man, Royals fans know how huge it would be for Butler to get hot this final week (and thankfully, Yost has finally realized it, too). Butler also singled and scored in the seventh.
-- Remember Alex? The Royals have stayed alive in the race despite getting next to no offensive help from Alex Gordon, who is hitting .162 since late August. But Gordon looked much better and much more confident Tuesday. Gordon singled in the two-run fourth, walked and scored in the fifth, and then delivered the knockout punch -- a two-run double in the seventh. "It was nice," Gordon said on the FSKC postgame show. "I was so surprised that Billy scored from first" on the double.
3 DOWN
-- Don't let up. The Royals had a chance to get an eighth run in the seventh when they had Gordon on third with nobody out. But Perez grounded out, and Infante and Mike Moustakas struck out. No reason to let up with a big lead. Focus on situational hitting.
-- Come on, Joe. Home-plate umpire Joe West was called into duty for a sick umpire on Tuesday and for the most part, West did a great job. You may remember that West was the umpire who was determined to get the Royals-Cardinals game in last year in late May during a five-hour rain delay. The Royals got a desperately needed win thanks to West, who could have called it. But in the seventh, with Ventura struggling, West did not ring up Lonnie Chisenhall on a great pitch from Ventura on a 3-2 count that nicked the inside corner. The Indians then loaded the bases before Ventura struck out Jose Ramirez to end the drama.
-- Careless error. Moustakas made a foolish and careless error in the eighth that led to the Indians' run. Carlos Santana, with a runner on second, hit a routine grounder to Moose, who let the ball play him and set up the Indians with runners on first and third. Luckily, the Royals got out of it with only one run scoring.
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
