Royals Find Swagger And Sweep Home Field Advantage
The Kansas City Royals ended the regular season Sunday with a record of 95-67, their best since 1980. The Royals also have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, with a 6-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins. The win concluded one of the best seasons for the Royals in franchise history. The stage has been set for the defense of the American League pennant.
The Royals were in search of the best record in the American league. They had determined competition from the Toronto Blue Jays. In September, the Royals scorched opponents with a five-game winning streak that iced the best record. The Blue Jays fell two games short of Kansas City.
The Royals will play the winner of a Wild Card game between the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium in the beginning of the American League Division Series. Per the Kansas City Star, the Wild Card game will be played at Yankee Stadium.
Johnny Cueto looked good in his last outing before starting in Game 2. He pitched five innings, giving up one run, six hits, and four walks. Cueto’s mechanics seemed to be coming around just in time for the postseason stretch.
Completing the season with 95 wins is the best Kansas City has done in 35 years. The only better seasons came in 1977 when they won 102 and 1980 with 97 Ws.
The Royals put an end to weeks of drama about their seeding and who they would face in the playoffs. The drive sputtered and the team floundered along, compiling an 11-17 record for the month of September. Now Kansas City owns the top playoff spot.
Even though they lost to the Royals, the Twins finished with their first winning season in five years. Minnesota went 83-79 and finished 12 games out of first, behind Kansas City. They have great young talent to build upon for next year.
The Royals are not in rebuild mode. The boys in blue have rebounded to give the Kansas City fans a chance at redemption for last year. This year’s edition of the Royals is much stronger than the team that made the World Series last year. The bullpen is deeper, and the ability to score runs isn’t a huge problem.
Center fielder Lorenzo Cain talked about the Royals, per the Wichita Eagle.
“We’re more of a complete team this year. Even though we played the way we did, ended up sweeping teams throughout the playoffs, I feel like we’re more complete. At the end of the day, you get to that postseason, it’s a whole different level of baseball. All that goes out the window. It’s either who shows up, or who gets how at the right time.”
The Royals still have to rectify the problem with the starting rotation. In the midst of all that’s good, that seems to be the weakest link. Kansas City acquired Johnny Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds in late July to fix the problem. Cueto hit a wall in his portion of the rotation. In five starts, his ERA inflated to an astronomical 9.57. His last three starts have been more reasonable, and he’s rebounded. Improved communication with catcher Salvador Perez has been the solution, so far. The Royals will still likely start Yordono Ventura in Game 1 on Thursday.
To hear the Royals tell it, the swagger was born in last year’s Wild Card game, when the club conquered Jon Lester, a four-run deficit, and the Oakland A’s with only two innings left. That growing confidence carried them through October and into the start of this season.
History has proven that the concept of momentum is overblown. But the Royals just may prove that theory to be wrong.
[Photos by Hannah Foslien / Getty Images]
