Royals almost come back in ninth inning but lose 5-4 to Dodgers
Their comeback attempt came up just short.
Tonight was a battle between two philosophies of scoring.
The Dodgers - hit home runs
The Royals - don’t hit home runs
Both teams broke with tradition, but the better team came out on top.
Right off the bat, Noah Cameron put a slow changeup in Shohei Ohtani’s wheelhouse on a 1-2 count to start the game. Ohtani put a swing on it with some baaaaaad intent. I think everyone in the stadium knew where that ball was going when it was hit. It was preordained, almost. Who knew that hitting home runs in Kauffman Stadium just required “hit the ball hard”? 110mph off the bat at a 35 degree launch angle. Just absolutely smoked.
I gotta say, Ohtani’s contorted body here makes me giggle just a little bit. It looks so awkward. I think it’s the contrast between his front foot and back foot. Or maybe the grainy screenshot is making me think something is there that isn’t. I don’t know.
In contrast, Jonathan India led off the Royals half by striking out. For those scoring at home, a strikeout is worse than a home run on offense.
But hey, Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino managed to get on base, though without the use of a home run. Salvador Perez hit a line drive single to left field, and Garcia came around to score because the left fielder, Enrique Hernández, airmailed the throw to Arkansas. It was a lot more work, but for the first time since Tuesday the Royals scored a run!
The Dodgers, again proving the value of home runs, took a 3-1 lead on one swing from Max Muncy in the second inning. Muncy took a middle-middle fastball deep beyond the center field fence. It looked like a lot less work than the Royals’ run.
In a show of true commitment to the bit, the Royals scored again in the bottom of the second without the use of a home run. John Rave walked, stole second, and advanced to third on a groundout. Kyle Isbel hit a line drive to right field that was quite catchable, but the right fielder, Teoscar Hernández, sorta just slowly drifted back and didn’t drift back enough. He jumped but could not catch the liner, so Isbel reached base and Rave scored.
Then, finally, the Royals broke their commitment of “don’t hit home runs”. Bobby Witt Jr joined the action and hit a homer beyond left-center field. Like Ohtani, it was also 110mph off the bat. With Isbel still on base, the Royals took their first lead since Sunday at 4-3.
In the fifth, the Dodgers finally broke THEIR commitment of “hit home runs”. After a walk, Ohtani hit a short line drive juuuuust right into the deep gap in Kauffman’s outfield for a triple. Jac Caglianone in RF was shifted over for Ohtani to pull, which meant he had a long way to go to get to the ball in the gap. That knocked out Noah Cameron, and Steven Cruz came on to replace him. With Ohtani on third and no outs and the score now tied 4-4, the infield was in. Mookie Betts hit a grounder up the middle that scored Ohtani to make it 5-4.
The Royals actually threatened in the ninth. Witt Jr struck out on a pitch he was not really happy about, but Garcia followed with a single. Pasquantino walked. With one out, Salvador Perez blooped a single into no-man’s land in right field. It was the kind of situation in which Garcia couldn’t full-bore run because it could have been caught, but had he been running full speed on contact he could have scored. Or he could have easily been called out on a double play if it had been caught.
The ball dropped between three fielders, which loaded the bases for Cags. Unfortunately, Cags raised the spirit of Eric Hosmer and grounded to second base for a double play to end the game.
The Dodgers hit one more home run than the Royals and won by one run. Coincidence? Yes, absolutely.
But it still hurts to see the Royals finally put together a little offense and still lose.
Side Note: Maikel Garcia realllly flashed the leather at third base today. Good on ya man.
The Royals and Dodgers will play again tomorrow at 3:10pm US Central.