Royals Report: 5 Things About Memorial Day Rally

3) The Hit And Run Plays Proved Huge 

This tight, largely well-played game (despite unearned runs for both teams) turned on two hit and run plays. In the top of the eighth inning the Rays pulled off a hit-and-run with the rather slow Stephen Pierce on second base.

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Pierce forced third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert to break toward the bag which opened up a hole that Logan Morrison used to punch a ball deep into the hole between short and third. The weak grounder turned into an infield single that allowed Pierce to knot the score at 2-2.

Really, it was a nice piece of baseball from a Tampa Bay team that has been struggling to score runs while facing an almost unhittable reliever in Kelvin Herrera (1.08 ERA).

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the KC Royals pulled off a hit-and-run of their own with Alcides Escobar on first base after a one-out single. Whit Merrifield shot a grounder through the hole between first and second to move Escobar to third.

Escobar HURDLED the incoming ball to avoid making an out. It was an amazing piece of basepath athleticism that rescued the play.

Lorenzo Cain then fought off a number of pitches to plate Escobar with a single that put the Kansas City Royals ahead 3-2. Eric Hosmer followed Cain’s RBI single with a three-run bomb to right-center that put the game out of reach at 6-2.

Of course, Hoz put the game out of range for Wade Davis to earn a save— which cost my fantasy team 11 or so points.

Next: Joakim Soria