The surprising Kansas City Royals (15-10) are back on top of the American League Central after taking care of business Wednesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays (10-15) who have been surprising as well, but for more negative reasons.
Kansas City overcame a five-run deficit last night to knock off the Rays and reclaim their spot in the American League Central throne. The Royals scored their first run in the third inning and had the bases loaded and one out, but outfielder Lorenzo Cain grounded into an inning-ending double play. The Royals never gave up, though, and eventually gutted out a 9-8 win.
Manager Ned Yost praised his squad's resilience saying, "We had opportunities early to get a big hit and just couldn't. But they just continued to battle, get good at-bats and get in good position until we could break through like we did in the sixth inning." That resilience has allowed Kansas City to exceed expectations early in this season, despite not having one singular performer carrying the load such as Justin Upton of the Atlanta Braves.
Instead, the Royals have relied on the whole team to pick each other up; Kansas City has five hitters batting above .275 and three starting pitchers with ERAs of 3.06 or lower.
Meanwhile, the Tampa Bay Rays, who acquired Kansas City's top prospect Wil Myers this offseason for starter James Shields (one of those three aforementioned pitchers), have felt the loss of B.J. Upton even though he's struggled in Atlanta. His presence in the order offered some semblance of a threat which the current lineup does not.
The Rays are 12th in the American League in batting average (.244), 12th in total bases (360) and 10th in runs (113). The pitching staff has been average, (4.18 ERA) and clearly misses Shields. Today they will try to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Royals, and improve upon a ghastly 4-11 road record. They will send Roberto Hernandez (1-4, 5.28 ERA) to the mound and he will face Ervin Santana (3-1, 2.00 ERA). The game will start at 2:20 p.m., and can be live streamed here for free or here for a subscription with higher quality video. Royals fans can listen to the game on KCSP 610 radio while Rays fans should turn their dial to WDAE 620.
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