Kansas City Royals Win Game Three, on Verge of World Series
By John Viril
After two wild games in Baltimore, the Kansas City Royals followed their regular-season blueprint to put away the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 in Kansas CIty. The Royals now have taken a commanding 3-0 lead in the ALCS.
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On a cold, blustery night after Monday’s rain delay, the Royals put in an almost workman-like performance to defeat the Orioles. They scratched out a run in the 4th to tie the game 1-1 on an Alex Gordon groundout, and then took the lead in the 6th on a sacrifice fly by Billy Butler.
That was all the runs Kansas City needed, after they turned the game over to their shutdown trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland. The group did not disappoint. Not one single Oriole even reached base after Ryan Flaherty‘s walk in the 4th inning.
Unlike the tense games in Baltimore, the Orioles looked like a team that hoped they could win rather than truly believing it.
On the Mound
Jeremy Guthrie gave a solid performance, lasting 5.0 innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned run with 2 strikeouts. Guthrie left with the score tied 1-1.
Jason Frasor entered in the 6th, and pitched a scoreless inning without allowing a walk or a hit. Frasor got credit for the win after the Royals scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the 6th.
Kelvin Herrera overpowered the Orioles in a clean 7th inning with 2 strikeouts.
Wade Davis continued his dominance over the Orioles with a scoreless 8th.
Greg Holland put away the Orioles with a clean 9th inning to put away the Orioles for his 3rd save of the series.
At the Plate
Kansas City fell behind on back to back doubles by Steve Pearce and J.J Hardy in the 2nd inning to take a 1-0 lead.
The Royals tied up the game in the 4th inning. Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer hit consecutive one-out flairs followed by a walk to Billy Butler to load the bases. Alex Gordon then grounded to 2nd to score Cain, knotting the score at 1-1.
The Royals took the lead in the 6th. Nori Aoki led off the inning with a solid single to left-center. After Jarrod Dyson came into run for Aoki, Cain struck out, and Eric Hosmer slammed a single past 1st base to put runners at 1st and 3rd. The Orioles then brought in Kevin Gausman to relieve starter Wei-Yin Chen, but Billy Butler came through with a sacrifice fly that easily scored Dyson to give KC a 2-1 lead.
Overall, the Royals slapped 7 hits (all singles) and drew 1 walk.
This and That
Oct 14, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas (8) dives into the stands to catch a foul ball hit by Baltimore Orioles center fielder Adam Jones (not pictured) during the sixth inning in game three of the 2014 ALCS playoff baseball game at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Kansas City’s defense again played a big role in the game, with Mike Moustakas taking the star turn. First, Moustakas robbed Steve Pearce by spearing a screaming line drive that he had to lay out to catch. In the 6th, Moustakas tumbled into the 3rd base line crown seats to catch Adam Jones’ pop foul to record the first out of the inning.
Mike Moustakas’ 6 game playoff hitting streak ended on Tuesday, but he made up for the lapse with a great day in the field.
The Kansas City pitching staff finished off the game retiring 16 straight Orioles.
The Royals won their 10th straight playoff game—6 in 2014 and the last 3 of the 1985 World Series.
The KC Kingdom Player of the Game
Our nod goes to Mike Moustakas. Even though Moose did not get a hit, he made two outstanding plays in the field to keep the Orioles offense in a slumber in a 1-run game.
The Orioles
Kevin Gausman did a great job keeping the Orioles in the game after the Royals scored the lead run by pitching 1.2 innings without allowing an earned run. Alas, Gausman’s efforts were in vain.
Up Next
The Royals and Orioles will play the 4th game of the ALCS on Wednesday. Jason Vargas (11-10, 3.71 ERA) will pitch for Kansas City, against Miguel Gonzalez (10-9, 3.23 ERA) for Baltimore. Game time is 3:07 PM CST at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City.