Five Keys to Kansas City Royals Winning Series Versus Minnesota

The Kansas City Royals will host Minnesota in a critical four-game set this weekend at Kauffman Stadium. What needs to happen for the Boys in Blue to win the series? Read on and find out.

With just 24 games left, each remaining contest is huge for the Kansas City Royals. But this weekend is monumental.

Minnesota comes to Kansas City with a 2.5-game lead over the Royals in the chase for the second Wild Card spot. The Twins have several other teams breathing down their necks, so this weekend’s four-game series is huge for them, as well.

The Boys in Blue will enter the series having won each of their past two—both of which came on the road. The Kansas City Royals won two out of three each in Minnesota and Detroit over the past week.

That also means the Twins will be looking for some revenge after suffering two one-run losses—sandwiched around a 17-0 blowout win—at home. Minnesota also dropped two of three in Tampa Bay earlier this week, so the Twins are looking to get back on track.

What will it take for the Kansas City Royals to win at least three out of four in this pivotal series to close the gap on the Twins? Here are five keys to accomplishing that goal.

No. 1 Bottom-of-the-Order Production

When the Kansas City Royals broke through with five consecutive hits in the sixth inning on Wednesday, it was the bottom of the order that started the rally.

Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon—the eighth and ninth batters in the order—hit consecutive doubles to begin the inning and chase Matt Boyd. The top of the order kept things going, but who knows what would have happened if Escobar and Gordon were retired to start the frame.

Production from anybody south of Mike Moustakas in the order has been spotty all season. But if this team is going to threaten for a playoff spot, the Kansas City Royals need more consistency out of their bottom-third.

On Thursday, the bottom three in the order will be Escobar, Gordon and Ramon Torres. With Moustakas nursing a knee injury (more on that in a minute), Torres will get the start at third base.

Regardless of who makes up the seven through nine spots in the order—be it Brandon Moss, Jorge Bonifacio or Jorge Soler, for that matter—there needs to be more production. A major league lineup can not afford to have that big of a dead space.

Hopefully, that will be corrected during Minnesota’s visit to The K.

No. 2 Keep Mike Moustakas Healthy

As mentioned on the previous slide, Moustakas is dealing with a knee injury. He tweaked it running the bases on Wednesday night, but it could be a reoccurrence of an injury suffered in Cleveland a few weeks back.

Either way, it doesn’t appear this injury is as severe as the previous one. While the power-hitting third baseman missed some time after the injury in Cleveland, Moustakas is back in the lineup on Thursday. However, he will be relegated to designated hitter.

It’s a good sign that Moustakas has been deemed healthy enough to hit. But it’s concerning that he won’t be back on the field. It makes you wonder how he is really doing, and if it’s worth risking further aggravation.

Thursday’s game is massive, but it’s not worth risking Moustakas further injuring his knee. No game—particularly a regular season one—is worth that, especially if it would get better by just taking a day or two off.

Some would argue the Kansas City Royals rushed Salvador Perez back from the disabled list, as he still seems to grimace after a bad swing-and-miss. Let’s hope the team isn’t doing the same thing with another of its key players.

A 100 percent healthy Moustakas for two games in this series is more valuable than a 50 percent healthy Moustakas for four games.

No. 4 Avoid the Big Inning

The Kansas City Royals no doubt remember the shellacking the Twins handed them on Saturday. Minnesota put up four runs in the first inning and 10 in the second to put the game out of reach early.

Kansas City Royals

It took two pitchers just to get through the first inning. Then came a patchwork job to just get through the nine innings.

But it wasn’t the only time during the series that Minnesota jumped out in front. The Twins plated two i the first inning and one in the third on Friday. Luckily for the Kansas City Royals, they put together a big five-run third frame themselves. In Sunday’s series-finale, the Royals stuck first again with a run in the fourth before the teams began exchanging two-run innings.

The moral of the story: With an offense like the one Minnesota has, don’t let them get started early.

The Twins have way more firepower than the Kansas City Royals. The Boys in Blue are unlikely to win a shootout with their Central Division rival. They need to keep Minnesota in the area of five runs to be able to expect a win.

But with the pitching match-ups this weekend presents, that could be a tough ask. One could argue the Twins have an advantage in all four games. Kyle Gibson easily has the advantage over Gaviglio, Ervin Santana is clearly favored over Kennedy, Junis is at least close to even with Jose Berrios and Bartolo Colon has been much better than Vargas recently.

Depending on how the starting pitching goes, it could be a long weekend.

No. 5 Be Decisive With the Bullpen

Anyone who watched the Kansas City Royals game against Detroit on Monday likely remembers the ninth inning. The tension of watching a 7-3 lead shrink to 7-6 after Nicholas Castellanos hit a three-run homer was palpable.

Yost had let Brandon Maurer stay in after the home run. He let him stay in after a single followed. He even left him in to face a switch-hitter with Scott Alexander ready in the bullpen.

The lasting image of the day was Yost running around the dugout after another single put the winning run at first base. He eventually called on Alexander who predictably escaped the threat.

Yost’s indecision nearly cost the Kansas City Royals what should have been a simple win. A similar situation happened last Friday in Minnesota before Alexander saved the day.

Bottom line: Yost needs to be more decisive as it pertains to his use of the bullpen. There needs to be a plan. Well before Castellanos’ homer, he should have known what it would take for him to remove Maurer.

Crazy things happen that force managers to fly by the seat of their uniform pants. But Yost seems to be caught off-guard far too often for someone who has been with a team this long.

He isn’t always going to make the right call. No manager does, but if he is able to exude the confidence that comes with being decisive, his team will benefit greatly.

Next: How the Royals' Playoff Picture Looks

Perhaps in the form of a series win this weekend, or at least we can hope so, right?