Welcome to the Kansas City Royals team page. Here you will find out about everything going on about the Kansas City Royals.
A Royal 8th Inning
Posted By: Emily Rosario on 10/12/2015
Today Yordano Ventura took the mound against Lance McCullers Jr. This was a critical game 4 for both teams with the winner of this game likely winning the series with the winner of this game likely going to the ALDS.
McCullers Jr. was 6-7 with a 3.22 ERA in the 2015 Regular Season. McCuller's Jr. took the mound for the first time in the Playoffs today in his first career MLB Playoff start. It was critical for McCullers Jr. to get off to a strong start by getting ahead of the count early because McCullers. Jr. relies on his fastball and curveball as his knockout pitches.
The last time McCullers Jr. faced the Royals in Houston was back in June where he gave up 1 run in 7 innings. McCullers Jr. got off to a rocky start in the first inning by hitting a batter, but the gloves of shortstop Carlos Correa and right fielder George Springer helped the Astros retire the side. The pop up that Correa caught to retire the side that Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer hit Correa's way was huge.
Hosmer dominated with a .297 batting average along with 93 RBI's in the regular season. This year in the 2015 MLB Playoffs Hosmer has only tallied 1 RBI on 13 at bats with a .077 batting average during the series against the Astros in the ALDS. That's a big reason why the Astros led this series 2 games to 1 heading into today.
Yordano Ventura came into this game with an 13.50 ERA during the 2015 MLB Playoffs heading into game 4 only pitching 2 innings in game 1. Royals third basema Mike Moustakas caught the first pop up to aid Ventura before Ventura struck out Springer in the bottom of the first.
Ventura hit Carlos Correa. Left fielder Colby Rasmus had a chance to help the Astros build on that momentum. Rasmus hit a single putting Correa on second base and Rasmmus on first base. Ventura had a lot of pressure on him in a must win situation. Having to deal with the tough crowd didn't help his cause.
Designated Hitter Evan Gattis stepped up to the plate with two outs. Kansas City got out of the jam, but Houston really wore down Ventura as the Royals starting pitcher threw 26 pitches in the first inning. Ventura would be lucky to finish 5 innings today since most starting pitchers fatigue after 100 pitches.
Lance McCullers Jr began the second inning with a strikeout. McCullers Jr only threw 21 pitches before getting his first strikeout. As long as he doesn't give up any runs he should do better than Yordano Ventura.
Lance McCullers Jr. had an intense duel with Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas. Moutstakas got ahead in the count early with a 2-0 advantage. That put pressure on McCullers Jr. with 2 balls and no strikes. McCullers Jr. was able to make it a full count, but he ultimately walked Moustakas who was 1/10 when batting in the 2015 MLB Playoffs.
Catcher Salvador Perez gave the Royals a 2-0 lead after blasting a 2 run home run. The Astros crowd was silent after Perez's home run who has been so vital in 2015.
McCullers Jr. had an 11 pitch duel with Royals left fielder Alex Gordon. McCullers won this duel and got his act together before striking out right fielder Alex Rios to retire the side.
Center fielder Carlos Gomez responded strongly with a solo home run. That limited some of the bleeding and got Houston back into the ball game in the bottom of the second. Gomez did what the Astros did in the AL Wild Card game against the New York Yankees by hitting a home run to make it 2-1 Royals. Houston almost hit a second home run before Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain prevented a game tying home run in the bottom of the second.
Yordano Ventura recorded his third strikeout in the bottom of the second inning. Ventura had to retire catcher Jason Castro who was 1/11 when batting in the 2015 MLB Playoffs. Ventura got back-to-back strikeouts when Castro struck out. The Royals led 2-1 after 2 innings thanks to the strikeouts in the bottom of the second. After McCullers Jr. had the better ERA heading into today, both pitchers had ERA's of 9.00 after 2 innings.
In the top of the third Carlos Gomez caught a pop up fly that second baseman Ben Zobrist hit his way. Carlos Correa would get a ground out when he threw the ball towards first base. McCullers Jr. would strike out center fielder Lorenzo Cain to send the Royals back to the visiting team clubhouse without a run in the third at Minute Maid Park. This gave the Astros a chance to tie it in the bottom of the third.
Ventura continued his strikeout streak. Ventura had 4 consecutive strikeouts with 2 outs in the bottom of the third before shortstop Carlos Correa hit a game-tying home run to make it 2-2 in the bottom of the third with 2 outs.
Lannce McCullers Jr. set up a ground out in the top of the fourth before he struck out first baseman Eric Hosmer in Hosmer's second at bat putting him at 1/14 in the 2015 MLB Playoffs.
Moustakas hit a single with two outs in the top of the fourth. That gave Perez a second chance to hit another home run with two outs after Perez put the Royals up 2-0 earlier in the game. Third baseman Luis Valbuena caught a pop up out with 2 outs that would retire the side and keep Perez from expanding the lead.
McCullers Jr. threw 75 pitches through 4 innings, at this point you knew you were only going to get 1 or 2 more good innings from him. The thing that surprised me was that I saw no Astros relievers in the bullpen through the first four innings.
Ventura retired Gattis, Gomez, and Valbuena in the bottom of the fourth 1, 2, 3. The score remained 2-2 after 4 innings.
McCullers Jr. recorded his sixth strhikeout with two outs in the bottom of the fifth. The game remained tied at 2 as McCullers Jr. threw 94 pitches during 5 innings. I think he's only got one more inning left at most, but it will be interesting to see if the Astros keep him in the game after resting their bullpen in game 3 when Dallas Keuchel took the mound.
Kansas City looked like they would retire Houston pretty quickly. Right fielder George Springer got a hit before Carlos Correa got an RBI to put Houston up 3-2 as he hit an RBI while getting a double with 2 outs. Ventura retired the side, but he only pitched 5 innings.
Lance McCullers Jr. managed to pitch 6 innings. Middle reliever Kelvin Herrera came in after the Astros took a 3-2 lead to pitch for the Royals in the bottom of the sixth.
McCullers Jr. remained in the game even after 106 pitches in six innings. I'm not surprised since I did not see a reliever in the bullpen when watching the game, but I do question what the Astros did. To Houston's defense, they kept Dallas Keuchel in the game last night and it worked like gangbusters allowing Houston to gain a 3-2 lead at home. McCullers Jr. hit catcher Salvador Perez in the top of the seventh with one out. Houston pulled McCuller's Jr. after that to avoid any tension.
Middle reliever Will Harris came in. Harris retired the side for Houston.
Kevin Herrera struggled in the seventh after one solid inning as a middle reliever. Long reliever Ryan Madison pitched a home run to Correa. Madison fired another home run to left fielder Colby Rasmus. Madison gave up two more hits with runners on third and second for the Astros, but Madison managed to retire the side. Houston took a 6-2 lead after 7 innings as pulling Herrera ended up being what kept the Royals from repeating as AL Champions.
Carlos Correa had the best game. Correa really stepped up today. After being hit by his first pitch, he had a solo home run, a double which resulted in an RBI, and a two run home run to put Houston up 5-2. Correa was also brilliant on defense in the infield with his glove setting up outs.
Middle reliever Will came in the top of the eighth and loaded the bases. He loaded the bases and gave up a run with the Astros leading 6-3 in the top of the eighth with no outs and the bases loaded. Middle reliever Tony Sipp came in to replace Harris with the bases loaded and 0 outs. The Royals got another run after Eric Hosmer got a single. Kansas City tied this game at 6 in the eighth inning after Carlos Correa made an error following a great hit by desginated hitter Kendrys Morales who drove in 2 runs on an RBI.
One of the more memorable moments of this game was when George Springer tried to catch a foul ball with a stool. Closer Luke Gregerson came in to replaace Sipp. The bases were loaded with one out as Houston remained in quite a big jam. Houston got another out, but Eric Hosmer scored to give the Royals a 7-6 lead.
Alex Rios began the top of the eighth for the Royals. He would be walked and would load the bases. Alex Rios was replaced by designated pitch runner Paulo Orlando. The Royals scored 5 runs after trailing 6-2 in the bottom of the eighth.
Kansas City Royals set up pitcher Wade Davis came in as a closer as the Royas were hoping to get a 6 out save. Davis did this as a set up man with the Royals in the past. Davis retired the Astros first three batters to make it a 7-6 game after 8 innings.
Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer hit a two run home run on Astros long reliever Josh Fields who was once groomed to be the closer of the future before the arrival of their middle relievers, set up pitcher, and closer.
Kansas City won this game 9-6. The Royals won a must win game 4 to keep their season alive.
Emily Rosario on 10/12/2015
