Royals Report: 3 Things About Crash In Cleveland

3 of 4

Jun 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert (19) walks off the field after a 5-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

The KC Royals dropped the first game of their 10-game road trip, blowing their first late-inning lead in 2016 to fall 5-4 to the Indians in Cleveland Thursday night.

The Kansas City Royals appeared poised to extend their winning streak to seven games, heading into the bottom of the ninth inning with a 4-3 lead over the Cleveland Indians. However, manager Ned Yost didn’t want to use closer Wade Davis three days in a row and turned to Joakim Soria—who had not given up a run in his last 9.0 innings.

Soria then allowed Cleveland to score two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning to blow Kansas City’s first game after holding a seventh inning lead. I guess this is how other teams feel watching the KC Royals snatch away games with late rallies.

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It sucks.

Of course, we Kansas City Royals fans were once very used to such collapses since they were a regular event during the team’s Dark Age that lasted from 1986 until 2013’s 86-win season. However, after winning two straight AL pennants and 22 playoff games in the last two seasons, this is a fanbase that has become a bit spoiled by success.

Baseball is game that keeps you humble. With a 162 game schedule and an anything-can-happen playoff structure, it’s almost inevitable that even a championship squad will suffer multiple bad days. On the bright side, the KC Royals offense extended its streak to 10 straight games with 10 or more hits.

On a more personal note, I’m sorry I didn’t get this post up earlier. I got caught up in a Texas Hold’em poker tournament that ran late and crashed the moment I got home.

On to my, belated, observations about Thursday night’s game:

Next: Paulo Orlando

May 2, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder Paulo Orlando (16) cannot make the play on a one run double hit by Washington Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman (not pictured) in the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

3) Paulo Orlando Face Planted As Defensive Replacement

Manager Ned Yost rested right-handed hitting Paulo Orlando Thursday in favor of recent call-up Reymond Fuentes. Not only did the lefty hitting Fuentes have the platoon advantage against Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco, Yost likes to get call-ups into action as soon as possible—probably to cut off any possible anxiety response.

However, with a one run lead in the ninth inning, Yost inserted the speedy Orlando as a defensive replacement for Fuentes (who had gone 3-4 on the night with one run scored). Orlando promptly misplayed DH Carlos Santana‘s single by bobbling the ball, allowing Santana to advance to second.

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With one out, 22-year-old Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor slashed a drive into the right center gap. Orlando attempted to play the hero by diving for the catch. Not only did he miss, the ball rolled all the way to the wall for a triple to put the winning run on third base.

The mistake cost the Kansas City Royals the game when Mike Napoli hit a sacrifice fly to left to gift Cleveland with a walk-off win.

Orlando’s made a terrible decision to dive for the ball. Even if he made the play, the tying run would have scored from third base. Lindor would have had, at best, a double; which would have required Cleveland to get another hit off Soria to finish out the win in the ninth. The gamble would have made much more sense if the play would have preserved a win or if the run at third base would have cost KC the game. But, the risk of allowing a sacrifice to score the WINNING run in exchange for the second out wasn’t a good move.

Though the play wasn’t an error, Orlando was a disaster as a defensive replacement Thursday night. Both runs against Soria were scored as earned, but BOTH of them involved bad plays from Orlando.

Next: Defense

2) Orlando Wasn’t The Only Defensive Culprit

Yordano Ventura gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the third inning when Eric Hosmer made a wild throw to first on Francisco Lindor’s single. He scored on third baseman Jose Ramirez‘s single to tie the

Jun 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (2) throws to first in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Escobar was charged with an error on the throw. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

score at 2-2.

WIth the KC Royals leading 4-2 in the eighth inning, Kansas City shortstop Alcides Escobar launched a throw past Eric Hosmer which allowed Cleveland first baseman Mike Napoli to take second base on an infield single.

After s strikeout, Lonnie Chisenhall walked and catcher Yan Gomes grounded into a fielder’s choice that advanced the Napoli to third. KC second baseman Omar Infante booted the throw on what should have been an easy double play, though no error was charged because he recorded the force at second. Napoli scored on center-fielder Tyler Naquin‘s single off Kelvin Herrera.

The run was counted as earned, since the walk to Chisenhall would have advanced Napoli to second anyway and Infante’s muff wasn’t counted as an error. However, competent defensive play would have prevented that run.

Escobar’s throw might now have been an error, but it also contributed to a run. Without that eighth inning score, Napoli’s sacrifice fly would have only scored the tying, rather than winning, run.

The Indians pulled off the walk-off to bust the Kansas City Royals six game win streak, but they had a whole lot of help from some unusually bad defense from the Royals.

Next: Joakim Soria/Drew Butera

1) Joakim Soria/Drew Butera Chose A Terrible Pitch Versus Mike Napoli

Joakim Soria had Cleveland first baseman Mike Napoli down 0-2 with the winning run at third base and only one out in the ninth inning. Napoli had missed two straight fastballs and was now at Soria’s mercy since he had to defend the plate against anything that looked close to a strike.

Soria could have used his change, slider, or slow curve. He should have made absolutely sure not to give Napoli anything good to hit with an 0-2 count and a dire need for a strikeout. Instead, he went with a fastball aimed to toward that outer edge that caught way too much of the plate.

I presume that the idea was to get Napoli to reach for an outside fastball, but Soria missed his spot. He would have been better served to throw a breaking pitch in the dirt that Napoli could swing over. On the other hand, a passed ball or wild pitch would have allowed the winning run to score. While Drew Butera is a solid defensive catcher, he hasn’t won three Gold Glove like Salvador Perez and isn’t as certain to prevent a pitch in the dirt skipping past him.

At some point, the KC Royals injuries were going to bite them. Alex Gordon, Mike Moustakas, and Salvador Perez were All-Stars for a reason. They’re really freaking good. Even when they’re running bad they bring some serious defensive skills to the table. While I can’t say Perez’s absence COST the Kansas City Royals Thursday night’s game, it didn’t help.

Next: Greg Holland Could Return In August

Salvador Perez is both an outstanding defensive catcher and a terrific play caller. I don’t think it’s any disrespect to Drew Butera to point out that Perez is almost impossible to replace, though Butera has done a really good job of it the last five days.

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