KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ The aesthetic of a baseball franchise cannot be distilled into one game or one inning or even one moment. Not entirely, of course. The game of baseball is too complex for these kind of generalities.
But if you were attempting to explain the philosophy of the Royals under general manager Dayton Moore, you could do a lot worse than the bottom of the fifth inning Saturday night at a sold-out Kauffman Stadium.
In a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers _ a win in which franchise cornerstone Eric Hosmer set a career high in homers and homegrown starter Yordano Ventura recorded a quality start _ the most Royal moment of the evening was a three-batter sequence involving turbo speed and timely hitting.
With a 2-1 lead and two outs in the inning, Raul Mondesi and Jarrod Dyson laid down perfectly executed bunt singles before third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert shot a single up the middle. Mondesi sprinted around from second base, Dyson cruised into third, and the Royals' track-relay squad came up with a precious insurance run.
Even in an instant, the Royals' speed can be blinding. On Friday, the Royals recalled outfielder Terrance Gore from the minors, meaning that Dyson and Mondesi _ perhaps two of the 10 fastest players in baseball _ were now the second and third fastest players on the roster, respectively. This calculus did not include Paulo Orlando, who was once a competitive sprinter in his native Brazil, or Lorenzo Cain, who once scored from first on a single in the decisive moment of the 2015 American League Championship Series. It also didn't include reserve outfielder Billy Burns, who is regularly ranked among the fastest men in the sport.
In ten years with the Royals, Moore has turned speed and athleticism into the organization's most coveted tool. On Saturday, for a moment, that speed showed just how devastating it can be.
After three straight agonizing losses, the Royals, 70-65, gained a game on division rival Detroit, 73-62, beating Tigers rookie Michael Fulmer in the process. Hosmer turned a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead with a booming homer in the fourth, his 20th of the season. Ventura, 10-9, allowed just one run in six innings despite working through some adventurous innings. The Kansas City offense opened things up with a two-run rally in the bottom of the eighth.
The Royals will face Detroit in an important rubber match this afternoon, with right-hander Edinson Volquez starting against Detroit's Daniel Norris. As a six-game road trip through Minnesota and Chicago looms, they can nail down a series victory against a Tigers squad still in the thick of the American League wild-card picture.
Ventura allowed 12 base runners in total, surrendering six hits and issuing six walks. His command was erratic and his delivery was inconsistent. But when the Tigers threatened, Ventura danced off the ropes, evading jabs and ducking punches. In all, Ventura stranded nine men on base. The most impressive escape came in the fifth.
In the span of six hitters, Ventura allowed four to reach base. None scored. Catcher Salvador Perez disposed of one by throwing out Ian Kinsler on a stolen-base attempt. With two out, Ventura induced a bases-loaded ground-out from Justin Upton.
By the sixth, Ventura had thrown 105 pitches _ just 53 strikes among them _ and lowered his ERA to 4.22, its lowest mark since late April.
The victory was essentially necessary. In the span of four days, the Royals had lost twice in extra innings to the New York Yankees and then squandered a ninth-inning lead to the Tigers on Friday night. The latest loss had the additional insult of closer Wade Davis blowing a save in his return from the disabled list.
On Saturday, Davis returned to the mound, taking over with one out in the ninth after rookie Brooks Pounders allowed a solo homer to Kinsler and a single to Miguel Cabrera.
Davis recorded his first save since July 22. Just one night after getting knocked around in the ninth, Davis was in no mood to rest.
In the seventh, Royals manager Ned Yost had turned the game over to his bullpen. Joakim Soria worked a scoreless inning in the seventh before Kelvin Herrera came on in the eighth. Yost twice flirted with using left-hander Matt Strahm, but each time, he returned to his seat in the bullpen.
By the end, the formula worked: A little power, a lot of speed and the bullpen in the final innings.
