Wowee, what a game last night. The Royals emasculated the
Blue Jays in front of their home crowd. The game included everything from new
MLB and franchise records, Royals
players mocking the Blue Jays fans, a
position player pitching, and the Royals continuing to steam roll through
anyone who dares to stop them. It was a fun game for Royals fans to watch, and
brought them to the brink of their second straight American League pennant. A
win today will send them to the World Series, a loss bring them back to Kansas
City for two more chances at moving on.
Let’s take a look at what it was like watching the game.
Below is an inning-by-inning graphic depicting fans’ excitement on a 10-point scale while
watching yesterday’s game:
And a quick recap:
1st inning: Alcides Escobar led off with a bunt, which was
promptly followed by a Ben Zobrist 2-run homer. The Royals punched in 2 more
runs. Excitement is VERY high. 4-0 Royals.
2nd inning: Alex Rios smacks a home run and Blue Jays
pitchers RA Dickey looks like total crap. Dickey is removed from the game,
which is a shame because it was a joy to watch the Royals demolish him. Chants
of “We Want Dickey” start up in various places around KC, mocking the Blue Jays
fans, who chanted “We
Want Cueto” after Royals Pitcher Johnny Cueto gave up 8 runs in 4 innings
in Monday night’s game. 5-0 Royals and excitement is still boiling.
3rd inning: Royals pitcher Chris Young, starting his first
postseason game since 2006, gets into some trouble and allows 2 runs, thanks to
Josh Donaldson and His Terrible Hair hitting a ground rule double. 5-2 Royals and excitement drops negative
levels. Royals fans know that the Blue Jays could erupt for several runs at any
time.
4th inning: Liam Hendricks, the former Royal from Australia,
has miraculously turned into a Cy Young-worthy pitcher and has stifled the
Royals deep offense. Royals can’t muster anything at the plate, but neither can
the Blue Jays. Chris Young keeps his cool and excitement remains very low, as
the game feels very tense. Still 5-2 Royals.
5th inning: Luke Hochevar relieved Young to end the 4th
inning, and pitches a nice clean 5th inning, but Cy Hendricks is still
dominating. Look at how ugly Hendricks is in the 6th inning photo. 5-2 Royals,
excitement is low and game is still tense.
6th inning: Hendricks looks like the greatest pitcher of all
time, throwing his 4th inning and only allowing the Royals only one hit in that
span, to go along with 2 strikeouts. Game remains tense and excitement is
non-existent.
7th inning: For some unforeseen
reason, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, who resembles Hannibal Lecter
from Silence of the Lambs, removes Liam Hendricks and inserts 67-year old
LaTroy Hawkins, thus opening the floodgates for a deluge of Royals’ runs. KC
scores 4 runs and excitement explodes. Lorenzo Cain leads the charge by
extending his franchise-record for consecutive games with a postseason hit to
13. 9-2 Royals.
8th inning: Alcides Escobar, the
greatest shortstop Kansas City has ever witnessed, continues his case to be the
ALCS MVP by driving in a run. He has 9 runs scored and 15 hits with 5 RBIs this
postseason. What a stud. Royals lead 12-2. Excitement is at fever pitch, as
fans know this game is locked up.
9th inning: Rather than use up any
more of their bullpen, the Blue Jays bring in position player Cliff Pennington,
a backup infielder who had never pitched in a major league game before. He
promptly gives up 2 more runs from the bat of Escobar. Paulo Orlando, subbing
in for Alex Rios, joins the hit parade and ends the day with 2 hits. Excitement
has exploded through the roof. The royals are now 1 game away from the World
Series and are looking like the class of the MLB. 14-2 Royals beat the Blue
Jays.
Here’s a look at some numbers from the series so far:
- The Royals have had a playoff victory of at least 10 runs in each of their past 3 appearance (1985 World Series Game 7, 2014 World Series game 6 and 2015 ALCS Game 4). The Royals have also had a shutout in past 3 postseason appearances (1985 World Series Game 7, 2014 World Series Game 6, and 2015 ALCS Game 1).
- The Royals have 46 hits (including 4 home runs) and the Blue Jays have 31 hits (including 3 home runs). The Royals have 22 strikeouts compared to the Blue Jays’ 35.
- The Royals have 9 bases on balls, the Blue Jays have 16.
- Lorenzo Cain has gotten a hit in 13 consecutive postseason games, a Royals franchise record. The MLB record is 17, which Cain can accomplish if the Royals move on to the World Series.
- The Royals are 17-7 in the past 2 postseasons.
- Alcides Escobar has led off 4 straight games with a hit, the first time that has happened in MLB postseason history. He is a true magician:
Get your champagne ready folks!
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