Kansas City Royals: Revisiting the 2015 ALCS Game 6

The Kansas City Royals get to return to Kauffman Stadium for Game 6 but will have to quiet down the Blue Jays bats if they want to prevent a Game 7.

The Kansas City Royals still had hopes of making it to the World Series for the second year in a row, but they would have to stop the Blue Jays first. After winning the first two games of the series, the Royals went back and forth with Toronto, finding themselves in Game 6, up 3-2 in the ALCS.

The Royals bats had been hot the entire series until the Blue Jays stopped them in Game 5. The Jays won Game 5 7-1 behind an outstanding performance from Marco Estrada. If the Royals wanted to advance to the World Series and finish the ALCS without a Game 7, they had to get back on track and put some runs on the board.

Game 6 would present a similar matchup from an earlier ALCS game. For Toronto, David Price got the start. The veteran Price had put together an outstanding 2019, going 9-1 with an ERA of 2.30 in his half-season with Toronto, and recording 220 innings with 225 strikeouts with both Toronto and Detroit. For the Royals, the young Yordano Ventura got the start. Ventura put together a decent 2015 season, going 13-8 with an ERA of 4.08 over 163 innings.

While a loss in Game 6 did not mean the end of the ALCS, the Royals did not want the series to come down to a winner takes all Game 7. The Royals knew they needed to come to play and put points on the board fast. A win in Game 6 meant not only the second Pennant in two years, but it meant a second trip to the World Series and a chance for the Kansas City Royals to finally be champions again.

On October 23, 2015, in front of 40,494 fans in Kauffman Stadium, Game 6 of the ALCS got started.

Having gained the lead to start the game, the Royals knew they had to continue to push forward if they wanted to hold onto it.

In the top of the fourth, Ventura started to show some fatigue. With one out, he gave up a home run to Jose Bautista, allowing the Blue Jays to get on the board. Fortunately, he was able to get out of the inning, giving up a single to Chris Colabello with two outs, but quickly recording a needed strikeout. David Price pulled it together for the fourth, recording three strikeouts on three batters.

The fifth and sixth innings were quiet for both teams. In the top of the fifth, Ventura started with two walks, one to Russell Martin and the other to Kevin Pillar. He was able to prevent any damage, though, pitching the next three batters into outs. David Price again looked good, giving up a single to Alex Rios with one out, but recording the final two outs of the inning shortly after.

The Kansas City Royals kept Ventura on the mound to start the sixth. With one out, he gave up a double to Edwin Encarnacion. The Royals brought in Kelvin Herrera to replace Ventura at this time. Herrera quickly finished the inning with a strikeout and flyball. Price answered strongly again, going three up three down to close out the sixth.

In the top of the seventh, Herrera continued to pitch well, sitting all three Blue Jays batters he faced. In the bottom of the seventh, the Royals looked to get things started again. Moustakas led off with a single to center. Salvador Perez and Alex Gordon followed up with outs, but on Gordon’s groundout, Moustakas was able to advance to second.

Following Gordons out, Toronto brought in Aaron Sanchez to replace David Price. Getting to Sanchez early, Alex Rios singled to left, allowing Moustakas to score. Paulo Orlando was put in at this point to pinch run for Rios. Escobar reached on a single to left, but scoring was stopped short as Sanchez recorded the final out, leaving the seventh with the Royals up 3-1.

With the end in sight, the Royals would be tested on their ability to bounce back and get the game back on track when the Blue Jays find a way to catch up.

In the top of the eighth, the Kansas City Royals brought in a fresh arm, replacing Herrera with Ryan Madson. Revere was the first to face Madson and was able to reach base with a single. Madson answered with a strikeout to Josh Donaldson. Bautista came to the plate representing the tying run. On an 0-1 pitch, Bautista hit a two-run home run, tying the game at 3-3.

Madson was unable to pull himself together, giving up a walk to Encarnacion. The Royals decided to go with closer Wade Davis to end the top of the inning. Davis quickly recorded the final two outs, keeping the Blue Jays from getting the lead.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Royals knew they had to answer. Toronto brought in Roberto Osuna to pitch and the Royals quickly got to him. Cain started the inning by drawing the walk. Following him, Hosmer singled to right, allowing Cain to reach home and score putting the Royals ahead. Morales followed Hosmer, reaching base on a single. Terrance Gore was then brought in to pinch run. Osuna was able to shake it off and finished the inning without any further score from the Royals.

For the ninth inning, the Royals kept closer Davis on the mound. Davis knew he needed a quick inning, but the Blue Jays weren’t going down without a fight. Russell Martin started the inning with a single and was replaced with pinch-runner Dalton Pompey, who proceeded to steal both second and third. Davis then gave up a walk to Kevin Pillar.

In a bind with runners on base, Davis tightened up the screws. He followed up the rough start with two strikeouts to Dioner Navarro and Revere and pitched Donaldson into a groundout to end the game.

With this win, the Royals had secured their advance to the World Series and won the American League pennant for the second year in a row. In a back and forth battle with the difficult Blue Jays, the Royals found themselves in the same position they were in a year earlier, but this time, they hoped to take home more than just the pennant.

The Kansas City Royals would have the advantage of starting the World Series at home in Kansas City, but they would have to take on the Mets, who much like Toronto, always went down swinging. With a few days to rest up, the Royals would meet again on October 27th putting Edinson Volquez up against New York’s Matt Harvey.