Royals Reports: KC Returns To Normal With Friday The 13th Win

The Royals looked like the defending World Champions for the first time in weeks. Not only did the Kansas City Royals win 5-1 over the Atlanta Braves Friday night, they played like a team that expects to challenge for the AL pennant.

The KC Royals played well in all phases of the game, offense, defense, starting pitching and relievers all did their jobs. That’s just not what’s been happening for the last two weeks.

The Royals pulled within one game of .500 at 17-18, while the Braves fell to 8-26 on the season.

About the only thing that went wrong on a chilly Friday the 13th at Kauffman Stadium is that the cold, wet conditions forced the team to cancel a scheduled fireworks display. Oh well, the Kansas City Royals hitters decided to take matters into their own hands.

The biggest turnaround is that everything felt really normal for the first time in a long time.

That’s the best news that the Kansas City Royals could have hoped for after watching third baseman Mike Moustakas, and starting pitchers Chris Young and Kris Medlen get put on the disabled list in the last week. The team can take another step back to normality with a solid start from Dillon Gee in his first KC Royals start on Saturday, who is stepping in for Chris Young.

Next: Cheslor Cuthbert

5). Cheslor Cuthbert Can Field The Position

Last season, I remember hearing whispers that Cheslor Cuthbert might not be able to stay at third base in the major leagues. I have no idea what those supposed scouts were seeing, because in his trial in 2015, Cuthbert looked good at the hot corner.

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He’s validated that first impression with his play so far in 2016, including this outstanding play Friday night: barehand grab.

Yeah, Looks pretty good to me.

Now, pretty much any player with the talent to survive at a position in the major leagues can make isolated outstanding plays, BUT Cuthbert appears to be a better than average defender at third by the eye test. He still has too few innings to really look at the metrics.

Even so, I’m pretty confident that Cuthbert is at least playable at third base. Though, he might need a move to another position for him to get playing time in Kansas City any time soon.

Next: Edinson Volquez

3) It’s REALLY REALLY Good Not To Be In Yankee Stadium 

I don’t want to blame Yankee Stadium for the KC Royals 1-3 series against the Yankees, because the yard was the same dimensions for New York players too. However, the Kansas City Royals pitching staff just isn’t built for a bandbox like the carbon copy of the House That Ruth Built.

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The Yankees hit nine home runs in the four games in the Bronx, including blasting five against Chris Young in 2.2 innings. Wow.

Pretty much every time I looked up, it seemed the Yankees were putting another ball in the seats.

Young was throwing batting practice in game one, but Ian Kennedy gave up two big flies that barely left the park on Thursday, and both came with a runner on base. Those four runs made his line look terrible, when he really wasn’t that bad.

Instead of respectable outing, while keeping his team in the game, Kennedy got blasted for seven runs in 6.1 innings.

Not good.

I REALLY appreciated the difference Friday night when Eddie Freeman’s drive to left hit the wind and fell about 20 feet short of the wall. At the time, the Royals were clinging to a one-run lead in the top of the eighth in a game they badly needed to get some momentum.

Next: The Offense

2). Royals Offense Is Bouncing Back

Lost in all of the negativity due to losing three out of four to the Yankees, the offense has come alive. The KC Royals scored 7, 7, and 3 runs the last three games in New York, add in the 5 runs they plated Friday night against Atlanta, and the Royals have scored 22 runs in the last four games.

Since the team’s biggest problem has been lack of offense during the two-week slide, that’s a good sign—no matter if the results weren’t what anyone wanted.

It’s not just the runs scored, it’s that many ice-cold players are getting good swings. Alcides Escobar has boosted his average to .255 after two hits on Friday night, which is hardly great but is much better than the .220 he was hitting two weeks ago.

Lorenzo Cain is back in a big way, after slamming three home runs in one game in Tuesday’s loss to the Yankees. He’s continuing to swing a hot bat, which included a single Friday. Cain is hitting .429 over the last week, which includes extending his eight game hitting streak Friday night.

Add in a home run from Kendrys Morales on Wednesday, and a single with a walk on Friday, and the Kansas City Royals are not quite as toothless at the plate as they have been. If they can find some production at right field, the slide could be over.

Next: Joakim Soria

1). Joakim Soria Is In The Right Role

Last night Joakim Soria came into the game when the KC Royals scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a four-run lead, which ended the save situation.

Wade Davis, who had been warming in the pen, sat down in favor of Soria who came into the game in the ninth. In a good sign for the team, Soria racked up three strikeouts on his way to a solid ninth inning to close out a 5-1 win.

Right now, the Kansas City Royals can’t afford to expect Soria to hold the lead in close games, especially when he’s having problems with balks.

Yeah, Soria did give up a rather harmless single. But he still looked much more comfortable on the mound than he has in long time. The best news of all is that Soria did not give up a balk while pitching with a runner at first base.

The Kansas City Royals are going to need him if they expect to contend this season. Let’s just hope they can get him right sooner rather than later.

Next: What Royals Should Expect From Danny Duffy's Return To Rotation

NEXT GAME:

The KC Royals will send Dillon Gee (0-0, 2.61 ERA) to the mound against Mike Foltynewicz (0-1, 5.06 ERA) for the Atlanta Braves 7:15 CST at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, MO Saturday, May14