Royals win a sleepy game, 5-1

After Wacha pitched a very efficient first inning, the Royals decided to do some efficient scoring in the bottom of the inning. Maikel Garcia smoked a double into the left-center gap on the second pitch from opener and old friend Burch Smith. Bobby Witt Jr. smoked the third pitch he saw just fair down the first base line. It seemed a sure RBI double, but Kerry Carpenter whiffed on his attempt to cut the ball off, and it shot around the corner and into right field as balls like that often do. It became an inside-the-park home run for Bobby, his fifth dinger of the year.

Vinnie singled to right ahead of a Salvy flyout, and Smith was pulled for lefty Tyler Holton to face Carter and Cags. Carter Jensen hit a ball down the left field line that he and Vinnie hustled into a double, but Jac Caglianone hit a grounder to the right side, and Carter took off for third, allowing the Tigers to throw behind him. Eventually, Vinnie was tagged out heading for home.

In the fourth inning, after bulk man Ty Madden had come in, Salvy made another out, and Carter and Cags each singled to put runners at first and third with one out. Lane Thomas struck out swinging on a fastball down the middle, but Michael Massey picked him up.

Watching live, I thought that one had a chance to split the outfielders. But it kept not dropping, and I became convinced it was going to be caught. But then I saw the outfielders didn’t seem to be setting up to catch it, and it finally became a home run! It turns out that Massey smoked it at 103.9 MPH. Go watch that swing at that pitch above and tell me that looks like 104 off the bat. If you’re wondering why Massey plays, that’s why. He’s got some easy power for a middle infielder.

And those are all of the hits the Royals had. So, yeah, sequencing wins. So many of the Royals’ home runs this year have come with the bases empty. If the Royals had led 2-0 instead of 5-0, who knows how different the energy would have been and whether the Tigers might have been able to mount a comeback. But it was 5-0, the energy was completely sapped out of the Tigers, and the Royals won.

That guarantees the Royals a winning homestand. That gives them their third straight winning homestand or road trip. That, my friends, is how you make up ground. If the Royals lose tomorrow, remember that hit sequencing matters for scoring runs, but it doesn’t matter what order the wins come in and if you’d have been excited if the Royals lost Friday night and won the next two, be excited for the record following the homestand being a step better. If you need another way to understand it, the Royals are not only second in the division following this win, they’re firmly in the third AL Wild Card spot. That’s how ridiculous the season has been in the AL so far. This isn’t nearly over.

Of course, the Royals do have a chance to complete the sweep for the third straight weekend tomorrow. The game will be on NBC’s Sunday Night Baseball once again, scheduled at 6:20 KC time. Noah Cameron (5.40 ERA) will take the mound again after being cleared from his back tightness. The Tigers originally planned to have Framber Valdez go, but he’s currently serving a suspension for throwing at a player and inciting a brawl earlier this week. They’ve still got TBA listed on MLB, and I can’t find any rumors anywhere else. So your guess is as good as mine. Fingers crossed the Royals score a bunch of runs regardless.