KC Royals: 5 Reasons Why KC Pen Is Shutting Out Opponents

May 4, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of a bag of baseballs in the bullpen prior to a game between the Washington Nationals and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

The KC Royals bullpen continues to dominate opponents in August. They’re riding a 38.2 inning scoreless streak after crashing to a 5.96 ERA in July. How did Kansas City’s relievers turn it around?

On August 10, I wrote that the Kansas City Royals bullpen was completely broken after Kelvin Herrera gave up a two run shot in the 10th to lose 7-5 to the White Sox. The following night, reliever Chien-Ming Wang gave up a run in the top of the 11th inning against Chicago in what looked like would be yet another bullpen failure.

Instead, the KC Royals scratched out the tying run in the bottom of the inning and won 3-2 in 14 innings.

Not only did the late-inning win continue KC’s “RallyMantis” momentum, that 11th inning run triggered their current 38.2 inning stretch in which the Kansas City bullpen hasn’t given up an earned run.

Oh, yeah, that’s after reliever Luke Hochevar and Wade Davis went on the DL at the end of July. So just how did the KC Royals bullpen recover from their awful July while losing two of their best arms?

I believe the following five reasons are the keys to the Kansas City Royals franchise-record scoreless streak from their bullpen:

Next: Reason No. 5

The KC Royals bullpen continues to dominate opponents in August. They’re riding a 38.2 inning scoreless streak after crashing to a 5.96 ERA in July. How did Kansas City’s relievers turn it around?

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