Oct 21, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Danny Duffy prepares to take the mound in relief in the fourth inning during game one of the 2014 World Series against the San Francisco Giants at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
The Kansas City Royals have enjoyed a fabulous run through the 2014 playoffs. They won 8 straight games playing at peak form. They won 4 extra-inning games with supreme confidence as much as talent. Tuesday night’s 7-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants in game 1 of the World Series makes you wonder if the magic is gone.
It’s not that the Royals lost. Or even that they lost by 6 runs. It was how they played.
In short, the Royals were awful in every phase of the game.
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The most notable failure was the chinks we saw in Kansas City’s vaunted defense. Coming into Tuesday, the Royals were seemingly fielding anything within reach. Great play followed great play that could not help bu leave opponents wondering what they had to do to get a hit against these guys.
On Tuesday night, getting a hit wasn’t so difficult for the Giants. Nori Aoki looked bad falling down in the gap while trying to field Joe Panik‘s triple in the 7th. Not only did Aoki fail, there wasn’t a fielder looming behind him to make the play as there had been on many of the diving outfield grabs earlier in the playoffs. Mike Moustakas also allowed a ball to slam off the heel of his glove in the 8th inning which put Pablo Sandoval at first.
Aside from the errors, the Royals weren’t able to make the big pick to kill rallies like they have during their 8 win run. Mike Moustakas couldn’t come up with Sandoval’s hard grounder to 3rd that drove in S.F.’s first run. While a terrific relay throw home made Buster Posey‘s attempt to score behind the lead runner look bad, Hunter Pence followed with a 2-run shot.
In the 3rd, Salvador Perez allowed a couple of pitches get past him, one for a wild pitch that allowed Pence to advance from 2nd to 3rd and helped the Giants score their 4th run of the game. Overall, it simply was a poor defensive performance that looked particularly bad after the series of web gems that had come earlier in the post-season.
On the mound James Shields looked nothing like an “ace” or a “big game” pitcher. He lacked command from the beginning, tossing pitches well outside the strike zone and far away from the targets set by Salvador Perez. Against a team that struggles with the cutter and change-up, Shields had neither of these pitches.
That’s why Shields got rocked.
At the plate, the Royals actually put some good swings on Madison Bumgarner early in the game. Eric Hosmer nearly got back a run in the bottom of the first with a deep drive to center that Gregor Blanco ran down. With 2 outs and the speedy Alcides Escobar on first base, that ball would likely have become an RBI double had it fallen.
In the 3rd, Omar Infante reached on an error followed by Mike Moustakas’ double down the left field line. Alcides Escobar then looked bad chasing high pitches well out of the strike out to go down swinging. Nori Aoki then followed with a similarly bad at bat, striking out on a check swing. Those two at bats killed the inning’s momentum. After Lorenzo Cain walked to load the bt ases, Eric Hosmer missed a very hittable pitch to ground out to second.
That was the turning point in the game. If Hosmer had slammed that ball for bases-clearing 3-run double, the Giants would have found themselves in a dogfight.
That, boys and girls, is what baseball “magic” requires. It doesn’t mean playing perfect baseball, or dominating your opponents. Baseball magic is making just enough plays at critical times to put the opponents on their heels.
However, one bad loss doesn’t mean the magic needs to be gone. On Wednesday, the Royals will have a chance to recapture their momentum with Yordano Ventura on the mound. Pull off another win in Kauffman Stadium, and the Royals will need only one win in San Francisco to take the Series back to Kansas City. Despite the discouraging statistic that 10 out of the last 11 World Series winners won game 1, this thing isn’t over.
The Royals can still “Take the Crown” if they play their best baseball over the next 6 games.
C’mon Sung Woo, I know you’ve got some more pixie dust left in you. Sprinkle it over Kauffman Stadium Wednesday night and let’s get the Royals train back on track.