Royals Finally Rally in Ninth, But Too Little, Too Late Against Colt .45s

So that happened.

Managing little more than a meager offensive showing in the first eight innings, having been held to two runs by J.A. "Call Me Jay" Happ, David Carpenter, Wesley Wright, and Brandon Lyon, the Royals headed into the top of the ninth down seven with little hope. Five runs later with three Royals standing on base, the tying run was in scoring position and closer Brett Myers was walking back to the bench with five runs and another possible three standing on first, second, and third.

Sadly, Xavier Cedeno induced an infield fly ball from the bat of Mike Moustakas and got out of the jam, dashing the Royals' hopes for gaining ground on the first place White Sox, who lost big to the crosstown Cubs today.

With the bullpen seriously depleted and little help coming from Omaha, the Royals needed Jonathan Sanchez to go as deep as possible. He threw a brutal/miraculous six innings, striking out three while walking four, hitting two more batsmen, and allowing six more hits. Having given up four runs (three earned*), he gave way to Louis Coleman, who proceeded to give up five more runs in two innings. If there was one night in which Yost may not have had an option as to what reliever to replace Coleman with, it was tonight. The off-day for most of the bullpen was needed.

*The unearned run was a run that came around from first on one of two errant pick-off throws to first base. Justin Maxwell came around to score from first on the play.

The frustrating aspect of the game, of course, was that the Astros somehow plated nine runs. Their lineup consisted of Jose Altuve, Brian Bixler, Justin Maxwell, Carlos Lee, J.D. Martinez, Chris Johnson, Matt Downs, and Chris Snyder. Those are all baseball players. Seriously. Now, I'm going to assume that Chris Johnson is the same one who can see two minutes into the future and change his path should he so choose, so that has to play a part in how Houston scored nine runs today, even off of The Sanchize and Louis "The Omaha Yo-Yo" Coleman. Let's just hope that Jessica Biel walks into the diner tomorrow and Johnson's life takes a sudden turn allowing the Royals to win tomorrow and the day after.