2015 Kansas City Royals: Masters of Small Ball

2015 Kansas City Royals: Masters of Small Ball

2015 Kansas City Royals: Masters of Small Ball

Falling short of the ultimate prize and losing to the San Francisco Giants in the 2014 World Series, there was only one thing on the minds of the players and the coaching staff of the Kansas City Royals, and that was to get back to the Fall Classic. Though there were some departures, the roster was mostly kept in tact for Kansas City. The Royals went 95-67 in 2015, finishing 12 games ahead of the Minnesota Twins to win the American League Central division. The Royals went 12-7 against the Twins in head-to-head play. The Royals went 51-30 at home and 44-37 on the road.

Center fielder Lornezo Cain batted .307 with 16 home runs and 72 RBI’s off 169 hits, 34 doubles, 6 triples and 28 stolen bases. First baseman Eric Hosmer batted .297 with 8 home runs and 93 RBI’s off 178 hits, 33 doubles, 5 triples and 7 stolen bases. Designated Hitter Kendrys Morales batted .290 with 22 home runs and 106 RBI’s off 165 hits and 41 doubles. Third baseman Mike Moustakas batted .284 with 22 home runs and 82 RBI’s off 156 hits and 34 doubles. Left fielder Alex Gordon batted .271 with 13 home runs, 96 hits and 18 doubles.

Catcher Salvador Perez had 21 home runs and 70 RBI’s off 138 hits and 25 doubles. Shortstop Alcides Escobar had 157 hits, 20 doubles, 5 triples and 17 stolen bases. Right fielder Alex Rios had 98 hits, 22 doubles and 9 stolen bases. Second baseman Omar Infante had 97 hits, 23 doubles and 7 triples. Utility player Ben Zobrist had 66 hits and 16 doubles in 59 games. Outfielder Paulo Orlando had 60 hits, 14 doubles and 6 triples in 86 games. Outfielder Jarrod Dyson had 50 hits, 6 triples and 26 stolen bases in 90 games.

Starting pitcher Edinson Volquez went 13-9 with 155 strikeouts and a 3.55 ERA and recorded 1 complete game. Yordano Ventura went 13-8 with 156 strikeouts. Jeremy Guthrie went 8-8 with 84 strikeouts. Danny Duffy had 102 strikeouts despite going 7-8. Chris Young went 11-6 with 83 strikeouts and a 3.06 ERA. Closer Greg Holland went 3-2 with 32 saves and a 3.83 ERA. Kelvin Herrera went 4-3 with a 2.71 ERA. Wade Davis went 8-1 with 17 saves and 78 strikeouts and a microscopic 0.94 ERA. Ryan Madson had 3 saves and a 2.13 ERA despite going 1-2. Franklin Morales went 4-2 with a 3.18 ERA. Jason Vargas went 5-2 with a 3.98 ERA.

The Royals had a battle on their hands in the American League Division Series against the Houston Astros. In Game 1 on October 8 at Kauffman Stadium, the Astros won 5-2. In the top of the 1st inning left fielder Colby Rasmus and designated hitter Evan Gattis both had RBI groundouts. In the top of the 2nd second baseman Jose Altuve had an RBI single. Kendrys Morales then hit a pair of solo home runs in the bottom of the 2nd and 4th innings. The Astros responded in the top of the 5th with a solo home run hit by right fielder George Springer, and a solo home run hit by Rasmus in the top of the 8th.

In Game 2 on October 9 the Royals won 5-4. In the top of the 1st inning Rasmus had an RBI double, and in the top of the 2nd Springer had a 2-run single. In the bottom of the 2nd Salvador Perez hit a solo home run. In the top of the 3rd Rasmus hit a solo home run, and in the bottom of the 3rd Ben Zobrist grounded into a double play to score Alex Rios. In the bottom of the 6th Eric Hosmer had an RBI single, and then Perez drew a bases loaded walk to score Hosmer. Zobrist then had an RBI single in the bottom of the 7th.

In Game 3 on October 11 at Minute Maid Park the Astros beat the Royals 4-2. Houston’s Dallas Keuchel pitched 7 innings and gave up 5 hits, 3 walks and 1 run, but recorded 7 strikeouts. In the top of the 4th Lorenzo Cain hit a solo home run, but Houston would take control after this. In the bottom of the 5th catcher Jason Castro had a 2-run single, center fielder Carlos Gomez had an RBI single in the bottom of the 6th, and then first baseman Chris Carter hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 7th. In the top of the 9th Alex Gordon hit a solo home run but it couldn’t spark a Kansas City rally.

In Game 4 on October 12 the Royals won 9-6. In the top of the 2nd inning Perez clubbed a 2-run home run, and then the Astros struck back. Shortstop Carlos Correa hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd, had an RBI double in the bottom of the 5th, and then belted a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 7th. Rasmus then followed with a solo home run. In the top of the 8th Cain and Hosmer had a pair of RBI singles, Morales reached on an error to score both Zobrist and Cain, and then Gordon had an RBI groundout. Hosmer then crushed a 2-run home run in the top of the 9th to secure the victory for the Royals.

In the deciding Game 5 on October 14 at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals won 7-2 to eliminate the Astros. In the top of the 2nd inning third baseman Luis Valbuena clubbed a 2-run home run, but then Kansas City took control. In the bottom of the 4th Hosmer had an RBI single, and in the bottom of the 5th Rios had a 2-run double with a sacrifice fly by Zobrist following. Morales then crushed a 3-run home run in the bottom of the 8th.

The Royals then had another 6-game battle against the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series. In Game 1 on October 16 at Kauffman Stadium the Royals blanked the Blue Jays 5-0. Edinson Volquez pitched 6 innings and gave up 2 hits and 4 walks, but recorded 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 3rd inning Escobar had an RBI double and Cain had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 4th Perez hit a solo home run, and in the bottom of the 8th Hosmer had an RBI doubles, and Morales followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Royals then won Game 2 on October 17 by the score of 6-3. In the top of the 3rd inning second baseman Ryan Goins had an RBI double. In the top of the 6th designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion had an RBI single, and shortstop Troy Tulowitski had an RBI double. In the bottom of the 7th Hosmer had an RBI single, Morales had an RBI groundout, Moustakas had an RBI single, Gordon had an RBI double, and Rios topped it off wit an RBI single. Moustakas added an RBI single in the bottom of the 8th.

Returning to the Rogers Centre for Game 3 on October 19, the Blue Jays beat the Royals 11-8. In the top of the 1st inning Zobrist had an RBI groundout, and in the bottom of the 2nd Goins and third baseman Josh Donaldson had a pair of RBI singles. In the top of the 3rd Hosmer grounded into a forceout at second base to score Zobrist. In the bottom of the 3rd Tulowitski belted a 3-run home run, center fielder Kevin Pillar had an RBI double, and then Donaldson smacked a 2-run home run. In the top of the 5th a wild pitch scored Escobar, and then Moustakas had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 5th Goins hit a solo home run, and right fielder Jose Bautista had an RBI single. Cain had a sacrifice fly in the top of the 9th, Hosmer had an RBI single, and Morales crushed a 2-run home run, but Kansas City still fell short.

The Royals would demolish the Blue Jays in a 14-2 rout in Game 4 on October 20. The top of the 7th and 8th innings were the most influential as Escobar had a sacrifice fly, Gordon scored on a wild pitch, Cain had an RBI single, and Hosmer had a sacrifice fly in the 7th, and then Escobar had a sacrifice fly, and Cain had an RBI single in the 8th.

The Blue Jays came back to beat the Royals 7-1 in Game 5 on October 21. Toronto’s Marco Estrada pitched 7.2 innings and gave up 3 hits, 1 walk and 1 run, but recorded 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 2nd inning first baseman Chris Colabello hit a solo home run. In the bottom of the 6th Encarnacion drew a bases loaded walk to score left fielder Ben Revere, and Tulowitski had a 3-run double. In the bottom of the 7th Bautista had an RBI double, and after Perez hit a solo home run in the top of the 8th, Pillar had a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 8th.

Returning to Kauffman Stadium for Game 6 on October 23, the Royals put the Blue Jays away with a 4-3 victory, claiming the American League pennant. Yordano Ventura pitched 5.1 innings and gave up 4 hits, 2 walks and 1 run, but recorded 5 strikeouts. In the bottom of the 1st Zobrist hit a solo home run, and in the bottom of the 2nd Moustakas hit a solo home run. Bautista hit a solo home run in the top of the 4th, and in the bottom of the 7th Rios had an RBI single. Bautista then crushed a 3-run home run in the top of the 8th, but Hosmer would get an RBI single in the bottom of the 8th to win it for Kansas City. Alcides Escobar would be named the ALCS Most Valuable Player.

All 5 games of the 2015 World Series proved to be very exciting and challenging as the Royals took on the National League Champion New York Mets. In Game 1 on October 27 at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals won 5-4. In the bottom of the 1st inning Escobar led off with an inside the park home run. However, the Mets would respond with an infield RBI single by catcher Travis d’Arnaud in the top of the 4th, a solo home run hit by right fielder Curtis Granderson in the top of the 5th, and a sacrifice fly hit by left fielder Michael Conforto in the top of the 6th.

The Royals woke up in the bottom of the 6th as Hosmer had a sacrifice fly, and Moustakas followed with an RBI single. After shortstop Wilmer Flores reached on an error to score outfielder Juan Lagares in the top of the 8th, Gordon hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 9th to extend the game. Finally in the bottom of the 14th Hosmer had a sacrifice fly to score Escobar, winning the game.

In Game 2 on October 28 the Royals pounded the Mets 7-1. Johnny Cueto, who was acquired by the Royals in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds on July 26 in exchange for pitcher Brandon Finnegan and minor league pitchers John Lamb and Cody Reed, showed the Mets how dangerous he was on the mound. Cueto pitched a complete game and gave up 2 hits, 3 walks and 1 run, but recorded 4 strikeouts. In the top of the 4th inning first baseman Lucas Duda had an RBI single, but that would be it for New York. In the bottom of the 5th Escobar had an RBI single, Hosmer had a 2-run single, and Moustakas had an RBI single. In the bottom of the 8th Gordon had an RBI double, Paulo Orlando had a sacrifice fly and Escobar had an RBI triple.

The only setback the Royals experienced was a 9-3 loss in Game 3 on October 30 at Citi Field in Queens. The Royals would bounce back to win Game 4 on October 31 by the score of 5-3. In the bottom of the 3rd inning Conforto hit a solo home run, and Granderson followed with a sacrifice fly. In the top of the 5th Gordon had an RBI single, and in the bottom of the 5th Conforto hit another solo home run. In the top of the 6th Cain had an RBI single, and in the top of the 8th Hosmer reached on an error to score Zobrist, and Moustakas and Perez both had RBI singles.

With a 7-2 victory in Game 5 on November 1, the Royals captured their first World Series championship in 30 years. In the bottom of the 1st inning Granderson got the Mets on the board first with a solo home run, and then in the bottom of the 6th Duda had a sacrifice fly, but then Kansas City turned the tables on New York. In the top of the 9th Hosmer had an RBI double, Perez had a RBI groundout, and in the top of the 12th Christian Colon had an RBI single, Escobar had an RBI double, and Cain topped things off with a 3-run double.

Bringing excitement back to Kansas City, the Royals made up for coming up short in 2014 by winning it all in 2015. The Royals became the masters of “Small Ball” in part because of how efficient they were running on the base paths. Salvador Perez would be named World Series Most Valuable Player.