BOSTON _ In the parlance of baseball scouts, they say that Royals rookie second baseman Raul Mondesi has "80" speed. On the traditional 20-to-80 scouting scale, this means that, by definition, Mondesi should profile as one of the fastest players in the game.
But in some ways, the "80" tag can be elusive and somewhat nebulous. In the age of Statcast and advanced metrics and electronic timing, speed can be measured to the millisecond. So what exactly does "80" speed look like anyway?
Maybe there is no way to know exactly. But there are moments like Sunday night at Fenway Park. Sixth inning. Bases loaded. Mondesi at the plate. Sometimes you just know speed when you see it.
In a 10-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox, a win that clinched another series victory and prolonged this wild August surge, Mondesi opened the floodgates with a bases-clearing triple off Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes during an eight-run sixth inning.
The triple traveled 406 feet _ banging around in the triangle area of dead center-field _ and turned a 4-3 deficit into a 6-4 lead. It also allowed Mondesi to turn on the after-burners and show his gift to the world. In just 11.2 seconds, he bounded around the bases, cruising into third base with ease. As he reached his destination, the Royals were barreling toward another road victory as Fenway Park sat stunned.
The Royals would score eight times in the inning, pounding out six hits and drawing two walks. By the end of the night, Kansas City had clinched its seventh straight series win, its longest streak since a run of eight straight series during the wild summer of 2014.
So here we are: On Aug. 5, the Royals sat at just 51-58 after a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. And in those moments, the notion of a third straight playoff appearance seemed like a pipe dream. More than three weeks later, after a road trip through Miami and Boston, they are now 68-62. They sit just three games out of the second wild card and 5 { games behind first-place Cleveland in the American League Central Division. On an almost nightly basis, they are sending statements to the rest of the American League.
On Sunday, the Red Sox took a 4-2 lead in the fifth after a costly gaffe from Paulo Orlando in center field. With a man on first base and nobody out, Orlando whiffed on a deep drive to center. The error would lead to three runs and force starter Yordano Ventura from the game after 4 1/3 innings. The Royals wouldn't take long to strike back.
Eric Hosmer opened the top of the sixth with a walk. Kendrys Morales followed with a double. Salvador Perez loaded the bases with a key walk. The scoring started when shortstop Alcides Escobar chopped a single off home plate. That brought up Mondesi, who entered Sunday batting just .184 in 28 career games.
Mondesi saw one pitch from Barnes. And that was that. He drilled a 98 mph fastball to the deepest part of the ballpark and took off running. Eleven point two seconds later, he was standing on third. Minutes after that, the Royals had silenced Fenway Park with an eight-run inning, its largest since August of 2014.
On Monday night, the Royals will return to Kauffman Stadium to open another crucial series against the New York Yankees. But for another night in Boston, a second-half freight train rolled on through the night.
