Royals lineup improves without upgrades, wins 6-3

The lineup is fixed guys. The Royals exploded for six runs on just eight hits and one walk because timely hitting is what will carry us to a magical post-season. And the Royals were lucky skilled enough to hit with runners on base tonight.

Danny Santana began the game with ominous note, knocking a pitch just over the fence in right-field to put the Twins on the board 1-0. The Twins would add another run in the third, while starting pitcher Kevin Correia carved up Royals hitters, despite his bloated 5.06 ERA entering the game.

The Royals finally broke through in the fifth when Mike Moustakas doubled home Raul Ibanez, scoring himself on a hard-hit ground ball by Jarrod Dyson that was misplayed by Twins second baseman Eduardo Escobar. In the seventh, with Correia now out of the game, the Royals exploded. With two runners on, Alcides Escobar laced a triple down the left-field line to score Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain to put the Royals on top 4-2. Jarrod Dyson would lace a single up the middle to score Escobar for another run. Dyson then used his speed to steal second, then on his swipe of third, an errant throw by catcher Eric Fryer allowed another run to score to make it 6-2.

The Royals would yield a run in the eighth and Wade Davis would give up his first extra-base hit of the year (breaking a streak of 45 2/3 iinnings without an extra base hit). But Greg Holland would come on for the save, his 29th of the year, and the Royals would win the series with a 6-3 victory.

The Royals are now 55-52 and are just four games back of the amazing Detroit Tigers who have David Price, but not the valuable veteran presence of Raul Ibanez. So who really has the advantage down the stretch?

EDIT: Another bad note is Eric Hosmer left the game re-injuring his hand.

Eric Hosmer has a stress fracture. Ned Yost says he may miss a month.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) August 1, 2014