KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Well, you can't blame Royals manager Ned Yost for this one.
Yost was widely criticized for not using Kelvin Herrera in the sixth inning Sunday when Boston's Daniel Nava blasted a grand slam off Aaron Crow that wiped out a Royals lead and led to a Royals loss.
Yost explained then that Crow was his sixth-inning guy and Herrera was his seventh-inning guy.
But on Tuesday night, Yost ditched his preconceived strategies. In a tight game, Yost went to Herrera in the sixth inning to hold onto a 4-4 tie.
"Kelvin did a great job getting us out of there tied," Yost said.
Then with the lead 5-4 in the seventh, Yost inserted his eighth-inning guy, Wade Davis.
That didn't work. Davis, after walking Jose Abreu, gave up a three-run triple to Conor Gillaspie and the Royals suffered a crushing 7-5 loss to the White Sox.
Yost defended his new strategy of using his relievers when the situation merits it.
"We've got 12 games left and we have to find a way to win," Yost said. "You've got to pull out all the stops."
The only good news was that Detroit suffered a walk-off loss at the hands of the Twins, so the Royals remained 1 1/2 games behind the Tigers.
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3 UP
-- Aoki again. Just what can't Nori Aoki do these days? Aoki is single-handedly trying to push the Royals into the playoffs. Aoki had four more hits (he had four the night before), stole a base, scored a run and drove in the go-ahead run that made it 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth with a single. Unfortunately, the Royals couldn't hold that lead.
-- The other table-setter. Alcides Escobar also did a fine job of setting the table by walking once and getting two singles. He stole a base and scored two runs. Esky also made a couple of fine defensive plays, one of which saved a run in the seventh when he leaped high for a chopper by Avisail Garcia with a runner on third and one out. Esky threw him out after spearing the grounder.
-- Patience. The Royals, as we all know, are last in all of baseball in drawing walks and no doubt are the most impatient team in baseball. But thanks to the wildness of White Sox starter Chris Bassitt, the Royals actually accepted some free passes. In all, the Royals accepted seven walks. "We need to do more of that," Yost said. "When we're going bad, we don't show enough patience."
3 DOWN
-- Liam Hendriks. For the second straight start, Hendriks simply was awful. Hendriks seemed afraid to throw strikes -- and with good reason because just about every strike he threw got hammered somewhere. "After my last start, I really needed a redeemer," he said. "I didn't do my job, obviously. I thought I made some good pitches early on, then they chunked some hits out there. I think I got a little tentative. And then everything fell apart." Hendriks went just three innings and gave up seven hits and four runs, and put the Royals' bullpen to work way too early, which came back to haunt the Royals later. The playoff chase seemed too big a moment for Hendriks.
-- One pitch wiped out two streaks. The bases-loaded triple by Gillaspie off Davis not only put the White Sox in the lead for good, it also destroyed two impressive scoreless innings streaks. Two of the baserunners belonged to Herrera. The other was Davis'. The runs off Herrera ended his scoreless innings streak at 31 -- he hadn't been scored on since June 24. The run off Davis ended his streak at 31 2/3 innings -- he hadn't been scored on since June 25. Davis had come in with runners on first and third and Abreu up. "I thought (Davis) could go after him, get a strikeout or a pop-up," Yost said. "I liked Davis' slider against him more than Kelvin's. It didn't work."
-- Sal's slump. Although Sal Perez drew a walk (hey, ball four was two feet outside) for the first time since Aug. 12, he had yet another horrific night at the plate. Perez struck out twice, fouled out softly to the catcher and grounded out. Perez in his past 11 games now is hitting .111. And too often he is coming up in high-leverage situations and getting himself out.
You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter @jflanagankc or email him at jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.
