Kansas City Royals: Revisiting the 2015 ALCS Game 5

After a four-run bottom of the sixth from Toronto, the Royals desperately needed to start hitting to get themselves back in the game.

In the top of the seventh, Marco Estrada continued to impress. Other than giving up a walk to Cain, Estrada finished out the inning without giving up a run. For the bottom of the seventh, the Royals replaced Herrera with Danny Duffy. Duffy started the inning well, striking out the first two batters he faced. He started to stumble, though, giving up a double to Donaldson followed by a double to Bautista, driving in Donaldson for the run. Duffy was able to figure it out, striking out Encarnacion and ending the seventh without further damage.

As the eighth inning started, the Royals were starting to run out of time to get ahead for the win. Estrada continued to pitch for Toronto, recoding two outs to start. Salvador Perez, hoping to get things going, stepped to the plate and launched a home run into the stands with the first pitch he saw. To follow, Alex Gordon knocked a single to right. The Blue Jays replaced Estrada with Aaron Sanchez at this time. Alex Rios kept the line moving, with a single to right, but Sanchez was able to record the last out.

At the bottom of the eighth, Duffy stayed in for the Royals. Continuing to pitch strong, Duffy started with a strikeout, allowed a single from Tulowitzki, then struck out Navarro. Duffy looked to have the inning wrapped up when Pillar doubled to center batting in Tulowitzki. Fortunately, Pillar was tagged out trying to reach third, ending the inning at 7-1.

For the top of the ninth, the Blue Jays brought in Robert Osuna to end the game. Only having to throw a few pitches, Osuna pitched all three Royals he faced into groundouts, ending game 5, and forcing an ALCS Game 6.

The Royals were unable to continue their hot hitting streak and dropped game 5 to Toronto. Luckily for the Royals, Game 6 of the ALCS would be played back at home in Kauffman Stadium. The Royals hoped to finish out the ALCS and advance to the World Series after another matchup between the young Yordano Ventura and the Veteran David Price in Game 6.