KC Royals One Year Ago: 5-4 Win Over Houston In ALDS Game 2

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Oct 9, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar heads to third base on a triple against the Houston Astros in the 7th inning in game two of the ALDS at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

The KC Royals won 5-4 in game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros one year ago (October 9, 2015). On October 10, the Royals enjoyed a travel day before game 3 in Houston.

4. 135. 5. 7. Final

I must confess, I’m suffering playoff withdrawal syndrome after watching the early post-season action in 2016. While playoff baseball is still more intense, the current post-season just doesn’t have the same impact without the Kansas City Royals involved.

Thus, I decided to take a look back at last year’s World Series run as this October progresses.

The big thing that jumps out at me from the 5-4 game 2 win is that it was a critical victory that has largely been obscured by seven more comebacks that happened later in the post-season. Make no mistake however, if the Kansas CIty Royals had lost on October 9, 2015, their playoff run would likely have ended on October 11.

KC’s Playoff Future Looked Bleak

Had the KC Royals lost game 2 in Kansas City, they would have had to defeat 2015 Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel in Houston just to survive. Keuchel posted a 15-0 record in Houston that season.

The First Comeback Of The 2015 Post-Season

Lorenzo Cain slammed a double into the right field corner on an 0-2 fastball to wake up the Kauffman Stadium crowd. That hit triggered Astros manager manager A.J. Hinch to bring in lefty specialist Oliver Perez to face Eric Hosmer. Hosmer also went down 0-2. He looked bad swinging at two sliders well out of the strike zone. On a third slider from Perez, in which he inserted a Johnny Cueto-like hitch into his delivery, Hosmer chipped the ball to the opposite field for a single.

Oddly enough, Cain was running on the pitch for third base. He had a huge jump that would have easily allowed him to steal third. With Hosmer’s single, however, Cain cruised home to score on a play that might have otherwise been close at home.

Kendrys Morales chopped a single to second to beat the shift and put runners at first and third. With the first baseman holding Hosmer at first, Morales had an entirely clear right side of the infield to exploit with the Astros loading up three fielders between second and third. Perez then walked lefty hitting Mike Moustakas to load the bases.

Hinch again went to his bullpen. He tapped right-handed reliever Josh Fields to pitch to Salvador Perez. Shockingly, the free-swinging Perez took a four-pitch walk to drive in the tying run. The Kansas City Royals missed a chance to break open the game when Fields struck out both Alex Gordon and Alex Rios. But, the KC Royals went from trying to find some life to playoff predator.

Oct 9, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Ben Zobrist hits a RBI single against the Houston Astros in the 7th inning in game two of the ALDS at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

Putting Away The Game

Kelvin Herrera held the Astros scoreless in the seventh before Alcides Escobar greeted Astros reliever Will Harris with deep fly that dropped between the outfielders in right-center. Center fielder Jeff Marisnik allowed the ball to bounce off the heel of his glove. That blunder let Escobar take third standing up.

Ben Zobrist then slapped a liner through the gap between short and third with the Astros playing a shift. The single drove in Escobar to put KC up 5-4.

Releivers Ryan Madson and Wade Davis finished out the game with two scoreless innings for the win.

Today’s Perspective

One eye opener watching it today is how good the Royals were at making contact with two strikes. In key situations, they were much better at forcing the other team’s defense to make a play. It was also startling to see the routine competence of the bullpen after suffering through Soria’s meltdowns in September.

Next: Danny Duffy Is Most Likely Candidate For Extension

You can watch the whole of game 2 here, if you’d rather relive a Royals playoff victory than watch other teams play tonight. Overall, the 2015 KC Royals really don’t look all that different on the field than the 2016 team. They play a lot like the 2016 team did in August.

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The KC Royals won 5-4 in game 2 of the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros one year ago (October 9, 2015). On October 10, the Royals enjoyed a travel day before game 3 in Houston.

KC’s Playoff Future Looked Bleak

The First Comeback Of The 2015 Post-Season

Putting Away The Game

Today’s Perspective

Schedule