Royals wield the BROOMSTICKS, win 6-2, sweep Diamondbacks

If any of you claim that you knew this was going to happen, I will reach straight through your screen and slap history into your face. The Royals swept the Diamondbacks this evening, winning 6-2 on the back of Jeremy Guthrie's first 9 inning complete game since August 5th, 2013.

Guthrie used his standard formula: wizardry. I'm pretty sure Guthrie's last name is spelled incorrectly. It should be Gandalf. I'm going to call him Gandalf now. Deal with it.

Gandalf scattered 7 hits and 2 runs in the first 3 innings. The other 6 innings, Gandalf was nails and set down the Diamondbacks 1-2-3 in each inning. Gandalf needed only 109 pitches to get through all 9 innings, and he got a good mix of ground ball outs and fly ball outs. He got only 4 strikeouts, but there were no walks. This was a fantastic performance after the first 3 innings.

On the other side, the Royals opened their broom cupboard with a bang in the 2nd inning when Harry Potter Alex Gordon blasted a 2 run homer down the right field line. The video was beautiful. I encourage you to watch it on repeat 537 times. Gordon immediately dropped the bat after he finished his swing. Wingardium Leviosa.

In another display of wizardry in the 3rd inning, Dumbledore Ned Yost called for a double steal with Norichika Aoki and Omar Infante on base, after which Salvador Perez knocked in both runners with a single. A double and a single scored another run in the 4th.

Finally, in the 9th, Mike Moustakas tried to score from 2nd on a single to center, but he got tagged out at home. Maybe he needs to get rid of those training wheels. No matter. The Royals still scored a run in the inning. With Alcides Escobar at 2nd base and Gandalf (!) at 1st base after a HBP, Aoki hit a grounder up the middle. DiDi Gregorius couldn't handle it, and Escobar scored from 2nd. Gandalf had a very awkward slide into 3rd, but he was in fact able to finish up the game.

The Royal wizards are riding high on their broomsticks after this game. They sit at 60-53, and they are in sole possession of the 2nd wild card spot. However, the Royals sit only 2.5 games behind the Tigers for the division lead. The Royals still have 6 games against Detroit, so there is a chance to make up ground in a head-to-head fashion. I hesitate even to entertain the notion, but if the Royals can keep their wizarding ways intact for a couple more weeks, we may have an actual playoff race on our hands instead of this 2nd wild card coin flip thing.

Let's go get that Golden Snitch. 150 points to Gryffindor and so forth.