I was going to write something along the lines of “the Royals upend Yanks to take Game 2, 8-3”, but since Michael Mariott is pretty much a AAAA pitcher, I was not able to do that.
Danny Duffy was solid through 5.2 innings. It was the 6th inning that really gave him fits. It was not until there were two outs in the 5th that Duffy allowed a runner past first. However, with two outs in the 6th, the wheels would come off, and all of his ‘Duff swag’ would be used up. The Yanks brought home three runs, all with two outs. Aaron Crow would come in and clean up the mess that Duffy made.
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The Royals’ home half of the first was nothing short of disappointment. Nori Aoki, our wonderful leadoff hitter, flew out to short left field. Omar Infante struck out looking, on what appeared to be a ball to everybody except the home-plate umpire.
Kansas City would plate three in the second inning. Billy “The Base clogger” Butler would kick things off with a double to Center. Alex Gordon would then trade places, scoring Butler. Salvador Perez would doink a single into left field, which would move Gordo to third. Lorenzo Cain would ground a single up the middle to score Gordon.
Mike Moustakas would bunt into a fielders’ choice, moving Cain to second, and putting himself on base. Alcides Escorbar would drive in LoCain with a single of his own. Aoki would come to bat again in the second, but would line out to Jacoby Ellsbury in center field. Next, Infante would step up, and ground out to second base.
KC would be hushed in innings 3-5. David Phelps would exit with 2 outs in the 6th. Salvador Perez blasted a 3-run dinger, and proved yet again that walks will bite you in the rear. Lorenzo Cain joined the hit parade with a triple, and scored on an Nori Aoki single to left.
There was something that troubled me, and has been for a very long time now. Ned Yost’s 1-2-3 guys are batting a combined .249 this year with four homeruns between the three of them. The Royals have 16 walks, and 10 of them are by Alex Gordon, but Yost continues to bat him 5th. Not to state the obvious, but that makes no sense.
Things may not always make sense to us fans, but the Royals seem to find a way to get it done. They will look to take games 3 and 4, and finally climb back to .500. I would say that we would definitely get the win tomorrow, but because someone named Ryan has to work tomorrow, he won’t be wearing his Shields shirt. If we lose tomorrow, I’m blaming this strictly on Ryan. No pressure, or anything.
