Who are these guys? Royals sweep Cardinals with wild 8-7 come-from-behind win
ST. LOUIS -- Well, now. Suddenly the Royals are showing some of the spunk they conjured up during the second half of last season when they posted the best record in the American League.
The Royals completed a gutsy 4-2 road trip through some formidable land mines in Toronto and St. Louis, and did so with their most impressive win since ... well, since last season, probably.
The Royals came back from being down 4-0, took the lead 6-4, fell behind 7-6, tied it 7-7, then inched ahead 8-7 in the ninth with an RBI single to left from Eric Hosmer that plated Omar Infante, who had doubled with one out. Closer Greg Holland finished it off by mowing down the teeth of the Cards' order, 1-2-3. And with that, the Royals had a two-game sweep of the Cards.
"That was a tough one, one of those grinder games," skipper Ned Yost said. "Everyone was grinding -- the defense, the offense, the pitching."
The players described it similarly, though with even more enthusiasm.
"It was just a great game, back and forth between two teams," said Alex Gordon, whose three-run homer capped a six-run fifth for Kansas City. "Both teams kept coming up with clutch hits."
There were plenty of heroes to go around, including perhaps new hitting coach Dale Sveum, who might have triggered the Royals' recent offensive burst -- the Royals have 30 runs in the six games he's had the gig.
"You have to give him credit," Gordon said.
Yost again noted how pleased he is with his team's sudden ability to drive the ball -- three doubles, a triple and a home run Tuesday. And Yost said he now is feeling much more confident about his once-dormant offense, especially when the team falls behind.
"I didn't even think we were really in jeopardy (trailing 4-0)," Yost said. "I didn't feel that good about (the offense) 10 days ago."
3 UP
-- Alex keeps driving the bus. There is no one hotter or more reliable right now offensively for the Royals than Gordon. The left fielder smacked a home run to break a 0-0 tie Monday night, and his three-run blast gave the Royals a temporary 6-4 lead Tuesday. Gordon turned on a high curve from Jaime Garcia in the six-run fifth.
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"I took two swings at curves in that at-bat and didn't look good," he said. "And then he threw another one that really stayed up and inside a little, and I was able to put a good swing on it." Gordon also had a single in the fourth.
-- Big double play ... at the time. The Cardinals loaded the bases off James Shields in the first inning, but he escaped damage when Yadier Molina hit a sharp grounder up the middle and shortstop Alcides Escobar made a terrific stop, flipped backhanded to Infante at second and Infante made a nice sling throw to first for an amazing double play.
"That there," Yost said, "probably was the play of the game." It certainly was the highlight of the night defensively as the Royals otherwise were very sloppy in the field.
-- Jirsch the hero? Let's not forget the great job by third-base coach Mike Jirschele, who has been on the third-base job for less than a week. But Jirsch rather boldly sent Infante from second on Hoz's line single to left in the ninth. The throw was close, but off-line, and Infante scored standing up. "We had to send him," Jirschele said. "We had to make them make the play."
3 DOWN
-- Moose droppings. Mike Moustakas had a rough night at third base and almost contributed to a loss with a huge error in the fifth. Right after the Royals had fought back with six runs in the fifth to take a 6-4 lead, Moose booted a potential double-play ball with no outs and a runner on first in the Cards' fifth. Moose bobbled a routine grounder and couldn't make a play anywhere; if he had gotten just one out, the Royals would have escaped the inning with no damage. But the Cards went on to get two runs to tie it.
-- No big game from Big Game James. Shields officially is in a terrible slump -- in his past 18 1/3 innings, he has given up 26 hits, 15 earned runs and seven homers. Ouch. Shields, though, won't classify it as a slump. "It's not so much a slump but just some bad outings," he said.
The worst part Tuesday, though, was that the Royals gave him plenty of offensive support, too, with that big six-run fifth. But Shields immediately walked the first hitter in the bottom of the fifth, and that spelled trouble as St. Louis picked up the tying runs. Fortunately, the Royals rallied again to win. "Right now, the hitters are picking up the pitchers," Shields noted.
-- Big Sal and the double-play blues. Sal Perez killed a potential Royals rally in the fourth. With two on and one out, Perez again, as he seems prone to do, went after the first pitch and rolled into an easy 6-4-3 double play. Perez then hit into yet another double play in the ninth with runners on first and second. Perez has a team-high 12 double plays now -- and is third in the majors in that dubious category.
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
