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

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.