Moose and Ace lead the way

Last night the Royals shut out the Cincinnati Reds for their second consecutive game without allowing a run. It was one of the Royals’ best games of the season, and can be summed by the heroic efforts of a few players:

First, Mike Moustakas led the team with 3 hits, including 2 doubles and 2 RBI’s. Moose continues to impress and now leads the team in batting average (.331) and is second with 48 total hits. Even better, Moose was facing Johnny Cueto, the Reds’ best starting pitcher. Overall, the Royals’ smacked 9 hits against Cueto, matching the most he has allowed this season. 

Second, Yordano Ventura pitched an amazing game. He lasted 7 innings, striking out 6 and giving up 0 bases on balls and only 4 hits. It was Ace’s third quality start of the season (at least 6 innings pitched and 3 or fewer earned runs allowed), giving the bullpen some additional rest. 

In addition, I do not wish to sound like a broken record, but IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP SINGING THE PRAISES OF WADE DAVIS AND LORENZO CAIN. Wade was again dominant in the 9th inning, getting his 7th save in 7 chances. He has not yet allowed a run in 18 innings this season, and has struck out 18 batters. And for the second consecutive game, Lorenzo Cain made a tremendous catch for the final out. Cain leads the AL with 1.6 defensive WAR, and if you think about it, center field is basically a no-hit zone when Cain is playing. I bet opposing teams look at the outfield and see this:

I also wanted to take a look at how the Royals are being so successful as compared to the other top teams in the MLB. The Cardinals and Astros have slightly better records than KC, and the Dodgers are right behind them. Below is a table of a few statistics, with each team's MLB ranking in parentheses.

It seems that the Cardinals rely most on solid pitching and timely hitting, Astros rely on home runs and steals, Royals rely on defense and RBI’s, and Dodgers rely on home runs and RBI’s. The Astros and Dodgers have more emphasis on power but KC and St. Louis have more emphasis on putting the ball in play. Interesting stuff. Also, the Astros are undefeated when scoring at least 4 runs, proving to be this year's version of the 2014 Royals. Things will get interesting when the Royals take on the Cardinals this weekend.

Hopefully the Royals keep their 18-inning shutout streak alive tonight. Go Roys!