KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ It will come down to the final day.
If the Royals wish secure a fourth straight winning season for the first time in 36 years, they must beat the Cleveland Indians on Sunday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. They must avoid a season-ending sweep at the hands of the AL Central champion Indians and stop their current losing streak at three.
That was the reality after a 6-3 loss on Saturday afternoon, after hot grounder to second baseman Whit Merrifield turned into a costly error, opening the floodgates in a three-run eighth inning.
The moment came with one out in the top of the eighth. Left-hander Matt Strahm, who had entered in the seventh, opened the inning by issuing a walk to pinch hitter Rajai Davis. He responded by striking out Coco Crisp.
Royals manager Ned Yost summoned rookie right-hander Kevin McCarthy to face pinch hitter Abraham Almonte in a tie game, and moments later, after Davis stole second, Almonte ripped a grounder to the right side.
Merrifield moved to his left but couldn't corral the baseball. It bounced off his glove and into shallow right field, allowing Davis to score easily.
McCarthy compounded the problem by issuing two more walks before shortstop Francisco Lindor broke open the game with a double just inside of third base.
The Royals (81-80) lost their third straight. The Indians (93-67) are set to face the Boston Red Sox in an American League Division Series _ though home-field advantage in the series is still up for grabs, depending on the Red Sox's result against the Blue Jays on Saturday night.
On Fan Appreciation Day at Kauffman Stadium, a crowd of 28,569 showed up to enjoy the final days of the 2016 season.
As the finish line neared, Yost fielded a lineup without two of his remaining regulars _ catcher Salvador Perez and first baseman Eric Hosmer. Perez was sitting for a second straight day while batting nagging knee and hamstring issues. Hosmer was simply beat up and fatigued, Yost said.
That left Daniel Nava to make his first start at first base and outfielder Paulo Orlando to man the cleanup spot in the order. And the Indians promptly took a 2-0 leads with single runs against Edinson Volquez in the second and third innings.
In what could be his final start in a Royals uniform, Volquez allowed three runs in five innings while striking out five and walking four. Volquez needed 103 pitches to navigate five innings, and by the top of the sixth, Yost had turned the game over to his bullpen.
After falling behind 2-0, the Royals struck for a run in the third on a two-out RBI single from Merrifield. After the Indians stretched the lead back to 3-1, the Kansas City offense stirred again in the sixth, scoring two runs on an RBI double from Orlando and an RBI single from Alcides Escobar.
Orlando finished 1 for 4 on the day, his season batting average at .305 entering the season's final day. Jarrod Dyson finished 3 for 5 and notched his 30th stolen base in the bottom of the fifth, recording at least 30 steals for the fourth time in five seasons.
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