Five Games that Could Have Landed Kansas City Royals a Playoff Spot

The Kansas City Royals finished five games behind the Twins in the Wild Card standings. Here are five losses that could have helped put the Royals in the playoffs.

The race for the American League’s second Wild Card spot seemed destined for a photo finish. Then the Kansas City Royals and other challengers slowly faded away to allow Minnesota to easily secure the AL’s final playoff spot.

When the season came to a close on Sunday, the Royals, Rangers and Angels all finished 80-82—five games behind the Twins. That’s a fairly comfortable gap. But it’s one that the Kansas City Royals could have overcome if a handful of results had gone differently over the course of a 162-game schedule.

Would the Royals be the ones playing the Wild Card Game against New York on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium?

That got us thinking about some of those heartbreaking losses during the 2017 campaign. What if just five of those had gone the other way? Would the Royals be the ones playing the Wild Card Game against New York on Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium?

Obviously, this exercise involves the folly of assuming every result not selected stays exactly the same. While it could be argued that it clearly favors the Kansas City Royals—because only their win total can increase—it also fails to consider the potential momentum these wins would have given the team.

That is to say, if the Royals had won these five games, there’s a good chance they would have won even more. Baseball teams—more so than other a lot of sports—can be incredibly streaky.

With those caveats out of the way, let’s dive in.

5.) April 9 at Houston Astros

Needless to say, there were many games the Kansas City Royals can point to as ones that cost them a postseason berth. So we thought it would be fun to limit our selections to no more than one per month.

The terrible start to the season left plenty of losses strewn across the calendar. However, several of those defeats—thanks to a lack of offense—could hardly be called heartbreaking. This one, though, definitely qualifies.

After suffering a season-opening sweep in Minnesota, the Kansas City Royals were attempting to move back to 3-3. The team had already captured two road wins over Houston. On April 9, the Royals were looking for the sweep.

George Springer led off the bottom of the first with a home run—his third leadoff homer in six games—to stake the Astros to a 1-0 lead. Salvador Perez answered with a solo shot in the second to knot the score at 1-1.

Raul Mondesi had a rare RBI on a sacrifice bunt in the fifth. Mike Moustakas hit his third home run of the young season in the sixth to give the Kansas City Royals a 3-1 lead.

In the seventh inning, Travis Wood served up a game-tying blast to Marwin Gonzalez. But Brandon Moss, who had struggled mightily out of the gate, got him off the hook with a solo homer in the top of the ninth.

It was his first home run of the season and had the Royals in position to win. However, Kelvin Herrera gave up a one-out home run to Jake Marisnick to send the game to extra innings.

Matt Strahm completed the collapse in the 12th inning. Springer singled and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, forcing an intentional walk to Jose Altuve. Carlos Correa grounded into a fielder’s choice before consecutive walks to Brian McCann and Evan Gattis—both on full-counts—forced in the winning run.

4.) May 19 at Minnesota Twins

This is a game that would have helped the Kansas City Royals in a big way. A victory here—plus wins in the other four games we mention—would have pushed the team into the playoffs.

Although, it should also be pointed out the Twins would have had a lot more motivation coming down the home stretch—particularly if they were trailing the Royals—than they did in the actual season. Regardless, every game matters. But some matter more than others. This is one of those games.

The Kansas City Royals entered May 19 with an 0-5 record against Minnesota. It pointed to a larger issue the team would have during the season—an inability to win within the American League Central Division.

An early 3-0 lead could have been even more as the Royals racked up eight hits against Hector Santiago. However, the team was still in good shape thanks to Jorge Bonifacio‘s two-run homer.

Minnesota got a run back on Robbie Grossman‘s fourth inning solo shot. But that was all the Twins could muster against Nate Karns, Strahm, Mike Minor and Joakim Soria. Herrera, though, suffered his second blown save of the season—the first coming in the aforementioned Houston game.

Herrera opened the ninth inning with a strikeout, but Jason Castro singled and Kennys Vargas homered to knot the score. The Kansas City Royals wasted a chance to score in the top of the 10th, allowing Minnesota to walk off in the bottom half.

The Royals walked three straight batters—two by Al Alburquerque and one by Wood—to begin the inning. Jorge Polanco then managed a game-winning sacrifice fly off of Wood.

2.) Aug. 15 at Oakland Athletics

Not to say the other ones here didn’t, but this loss hurt badly. The Kansas City Royals would have reclaimed sole possession of the American League’s second Wild Card spot with a victory. It’s a chance the team would not have the rest of the season.

The visiting Royals leapt out to a 3-0 lead—highlighted by a two-run double from Eric Hosmer—before the Athletics even got a chance to bat. Oakland, though, put up runs in each of the first three innings to grab a 4-3 lead entering the fourth. Matt Joyce, Matt Olson and Khris Davis each hit early home runs for the A’s.

Kansas City returned the favor in the eighth inning with three home runs. Drew Butera and Hosmer hit two-run shots, while Moustakas blasted a solo homer—his 35th of the year—to give the Royals an 8-4 lead.

Then came the collapse. Soria allowed four straight hits to begin the bottom of the eighth, which allowed Oakland to score a pair of runs. With one out, Ned Yost summoned Minor from the bullpen. He struck out a pinch-hitter then walked Rajai Davis in order to face the left-handed hitting Joyce.

The decision backfired spectacularly as Joyce cleared the bases with a double to give the A’s the lead. Marcus Semien followed with a single to put the Kansas City Royals down 10-8.

A five-run outburst in the top of the eighth had been bettered by a six-run explosion in the bottom half. When the dust settled the Kansas City Royals had blown a four-run lead and a chance to move back into a postseason spot.

1.) Sept. 14 at Cleveland

By this point in the season, the Kansas City Royals needed every single win they could collect to have any chance of reaching the postseason. That’s why a four-game set in Cleveland seemed to be a tall task no matter the circumstances. But given the home team entered on a 21-game winning streak, the Royals were up against history, too.

Kansas City struck first in the second inning. Moustakas grounded into a double-play that scored Hosmer but kept the Royals from putting up a big inning. Cleveland tied the game on Lonnie Chisenhall‘s RBI-single in the third.

More from Kings of Kauffman

• KC Royals Rumors: Is a monster move in the cards?
• KC Royals Free Agent Hunt: 3 Tampa Bay pitchers
• Grading the 2022 KC Royals: The $25 million man
• KC Royals Winter Meetings Tracker: Expectations met
• KC Royals Winter Meetings Tracker: Day 3 update

Hosmer handed the Kansas City Royals a sixth-inning lead on a double to score Melky Cabrera. Jake Junis looked to be in line for a streak-busting victory after pitching 5 2/3 solid frames. Minor and Ryan Buchter kept Cleveland at bay through the eighth inning.

With a 2-1 lead, Yost turned to Herrera to close the game out. Having recently been demoted, Herrera retired two of the first three batters of the inning. With pinch-runner Erik Gonzalez on first base, Francisco Lindor hit a double off the wall on a 2-2 count to extend the game.

Brandon Maurer handed Cleveland the win in the 10th. A leadoff double by Jose Ramirez, a walk by Edwin Encarnacion and a double by Jay Bruce ended proceedings.

The Kansas City Royals won the next night to finally end the streak. However, this loss—and the other four listed here—helped keep the team from reaching the postseason.

Next: Relive the Best of the 2014 Postseason

Clearly, there are several games that could be looked back on as missed opportunities. In theory, the Kansas City Royals lost 82 games that could have been wins. Hopefully, the number of losses—particularly those with late blown leads—convinces the front office to restock the bullpen.