The Dale Sveum era starts with more offense, Royals beat Jays again
Fourteen runs. Twenty-three hits. Five doubles. Three home runs.
And two victories.
That's how the Dale Sveum era starts as the new Royals hitting coach.
The Royals made it two straight over the previously sizzling Toronto Blue Jays, winning 6-1 on Friday night. The Jays had won nine straight before the Royals showed up in town.
And coincidence or not, the dormant Royals offense suddenly has sprung to life after the club named Sveum the new hitting coach and reassigned Pedro Grifol.
3 UP
-- Vargy pitched a great game. Where's Mike Moustakas when you need him to evaluate Vargy? Oh, right, Omaha. Nonetheless, Jason Vargas did pitch a great game, working through the treacherous Jays lineup. Vargas went six innings and gave up seven hits and one run. He walked three and struck out seven. His only mistake? A homer allowed to Jose Bautista. But hey, who doesn't make that mistake?
Vargas attacked the Jays he thought he could handle, and tried to stay away from May-monster Edwin Encarnacion and Bautista. Vargas got off to a great start by stranding Jose Reyes in the first after Reyes led off with a triple. Great job.
-- LoCain unleashes. Lorenzo Cain had a big RBI single in the second, delivered a clutch, two-out RBI single in the sixth, and then uncorked a blast to left-center for a huge two-run homer that gave the Royals a 6-1 cushion. If the Royals can get that kind of production out of the bottom of their lineup -- Cain hits seventh -- they will have the type of offense general manager Dayton Moore envisioned in the offseason.
-- Gordo hangs in tough vs. lefty. It wasn't easy for left-handed hitters facing left-hander J.A. Happ -- just ask Eric Hosmer, who looked overmatched and went 0 for 4. But Alex Gordon hung in there and had a great night at the plate.
Gordon spit at pitches outside the zone his first at-bat and drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch. In his next at-bat, he worked the count to 3-2 again and then blasted a two-run homer to right field. He drew another tough walk in his next at-bat. And then, in his fourth at-bat, on yet another 3-2 pitch, he was called out on strikes. Replays showed, though, that the pitch was high and out of the zone.
3 DOWN
-- Omar gets the Billy treatment. One night after Billy Butler got thrown out at first by Bautista in right field on what appeared to be a line single, Omar Infante suffered the same fate. To be fair, Infante thought he had fouled a pitch into the stands. Instead, it floated into short right, where Bautista made a sliding attempt to catch it. He didn't, but got up and fired a strike to first to get Infante, who hadn't been running. As FOX Sports Kansas City announcer Ryan Lefebvre said, "It's a bad play."
-- Aoki's misplay. Vargas probably thought he was out of the third inning when, with two out and a runner on first, he got Encarnacion to hit a sky-high pop fly to right in foul territory. Nori Aoki made a long run but then misjudged it and dropped it while sliding -- problem was, he really didn't need to slide and could have caught it upright. Vargas then walked Encarnacion but got Brett Lawrie to strike out.
-- Bad luck for Aoki. Aoki got two hits, including the longest ball he has hit as a Royal. He belted a pitch over the center fielder's head and it bounced off the warning track and just skipped over the fence for a ground-rule double. A luckier, lower bounce and Aoki would have had a triple. Aoki did have a nice night at the plate, rifling a single as well.
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
