Royals head to Fall Classic
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When the final out was made on another improbable night, and the Kansas City Royals were headed back to the World Series, Ned Yost stood in the dugout and watched.
Led by a dynamic defense, an opportunistic offense and one of the best bullpens in the game, the Royals swept aside the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday night. With another tight win, 2-1, the Royals captured their first the American League championship since 1985.
That was also the last time they were in the playoffs.
“It’s hard to explain,” said outfielder Lorenzo Cain, whose clutch hits and dramatic grabs earned him the series MVP award. “We’re clicking at the right moment right now.”
After the Royals held the Orioles to three hits in Game 3, Jason Vargas and their bullpen held them to four Wednesday night. Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis got the game to Greg Holland, who matched Dennis Eckersley’s record with his fourth save of the best-of-seven series.
The Orioles, meanwhile, will limp into the offseason after a 96-win season having been swept for the first time in franchise history, a stretch of 21 postseason series.
“I think it’s not what we didn’t do. It’s more what they did,” said the Orioles’ Ryan Flaherty, whose home run represented their lone run. “We played good baseball.”
Making his first start in nearly two weeks, Vargas shut down the vaunted Orioles lineup in Game 4. The only damage he allowed came in the third inning, when Flaherty went deep.
Alcides Escobar singled off Orioles starter Miguel Gonzalez to open the game, and Nori Aoki was drilled on the right knee a couple pitches later. Yost then opted to bunt with Cain, one of his hottest hitters, to advance both of the runners.
It was a questionable decision so early in the game. But like almost every unorthodox move that Yost has made, it worked out perfectly — for Cain’s first career sacrifice.
Eric Hosmer followed with a chopping grounder, and first baseman Steve Pearce went home with it. Escobar slid safely and the ball bounded away from catcher Caleb Joseph, allowing Aoki to follow his teammate home and giving the scrappy, small-ball Royals a 2-0 lead.
Giants 6, Cardinals 4SAN FRANCISCO — Buster Posey drove in three runs and capped another unusual rally as the Giants took advantage of some clunky defense by first baseman Matt Adams in beating the Cardinals 6-4 on Wednesday night to move within one victory of the World Series.“We might find some weird ways to score runs, but we’re getting people on base first. That’s the main thing,” Brandon Belt said.San Francisco climbed out of an early three-run hole, and back-to-back bad throws by Adams in the sixth inning helped the Giants rally.Minus injured catcher Yadier Molina again, the Cardinals were clinging to a 4-3 lead when San Francisco put runners at second and third in the sixth. Playing in with one out, the lumbering Adams backhanded Gregor Blanco’s bouncer and stumbled as he tried to set himself to throw home.Adams had trouble with the transfer, and his toss short-hopped catcher Tony Cruz as Juan Perez slid across with the tying run.Joe Panik then hit a grounder right to Adams, who stepped on first base before firing wildly to second in trying for a double play.
