Kansas City Royals: Best Individual 2017 Game Performances

August’s Top Performances

Here’s the start of the swoon. The number of great performances in August and September were so limited, we included multiple ones from the same game on both slides. That’s how rough the final two months of the season were.

Having entered August with a playoff spot to lose, the Kansas City Royals went ahead and did that with a gut-wrenching 10-18 record.

Melky Cabrera on Aug. 6 vs. Mariners

In the early days of the trade that brought Melky Cabrera over from the White Sox, the deal seemed like quite the steal. As time wore on, bringing Cabrera back to Kansas City proved to benefit no one. Even still, the trade went better than any other Dayton Moore made during the 2017 season or the offseason prior.

This proved to be Cabrera’s best game in a Kansas City Royals uniform—this time around. After having nine games with three-plus hits in Chicago, Cabrera managed just five such games in his time with Kansas City. This was one of them, as he finished 3 for 4, including a double and a home run, with a run scored and four RBI.

Jakob Junis on Aug. 6 vs. Mariners

With Cabrera carrying the offensive load, Jakob Junis turned in one of the top pitching performances of the season on Aug. 6. The first pitching performance to make this list since early June—and the last to appear, this seemed to be a pivotal game at the time with the Royals clinging to a postseason bid after a doubleheader split.

Following a tough 8-7 loss in the opener, Junis hurled eight innings of one-run ball to lead the team to a 9-1 victory. He struck out seven while walking none and allowed just four hits. It was a sign of things to come for the rookie sensation.

Cam Gallagher on Aug. 14 at Athletics

Since he was not a regular starter during the second half, Cam Gallagher didn’t qualify as a must-have on this list. He just did enough on Aug. 14 to earn a spot, as the backup catcher had a night to remember in Oakland.

Gallagher had a solid overall game, finishing 2 for 3 with a double and a walk. But his biggest moment came in the sixth inning. That’s when we launched his first career home run—a grand slam, no less—that sent the Royals to a 6-2 win. It also earned a man named Tim Brown $25,000 as part of the Sonic Slam Inning promotion.

Hosmer on Aug. 23 vs. Rockies

This is another instance of a player having a mammoth home run overshadow a stellar overall game. It’s just not fair. Oh well, might as well skip ahead to the good stuff.

With the Kansas City Royals down 4-3 against former closer Greg Holland, Hosmer crushed a walk-off home run to right field at Kauffman Stadium. The moment capped a night in which Hosmer finished 3 for 4 with a walk, run scored and four RBI. It also sent players and fans alike into a delirium that unfortunately would not be replicated the rest of the season.