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Less then 24 hours after losing the heart of their team, the Kansas City Royals completed the four-game sweep of the Tampa Rays with an 8-3 rout.
Jarrod Dyson, filled in for Alex Gordon in left field to start the game, and made one of the best catches I have ever seen. First, a transcript of the call:
Physioc: In the air, left side. Jarrod Dyson with the great speed in a day game the ball will carry...
Hudler: OH MY GOD!
Physioc: Dyson makes a Willie Mays style catch!
Hudler: Oh what a play...
Physioc: And they get the double play! Oh my goodness.
Hudler: Unbelievable. There's just no way.
Physioc: Jarrod Dyson.
Hudler: No way he makes that play. *gasp* That was fantastic.
In the bottom of the first, the Royals rode the wave of Mo D. Mentum. Escobar singled and scored on Eric Hosmer's double. Lorenzo Cain followed with a rock away blast to left field, giving Kansas City a 3-0 lead with no outs in the first.
Tampa made it interesting in the fifth, as Yordano Ventura was completely out of sorts with his command. Through four innings, Ventura had given up just two hits and a walk with four strikeouts. Then the fifth inning happened:
DeJesus singled, Cabrera doubled, Kiermaier walked, Rivera walked, Jaso hit a sacrifice fly, Sizemore hit a sacrifice fly, Longoria was safe at first on an error by Cheslor Cuthbert, then Loney flied out to center on a deep count.
After all of that mishegas, Tampa had cut the lead to 4-3. Then the bottom of the fifth inning happened:
Hosmer singled, Cain was hit by a pitch, both runners advanced on a wild pitch, Morales sacrifice fly, Cain steals third, Perez homered.
The lead was back at four, and Ventura's day was down. His final line was five innings, four hits, three runs (all earned), three walks, and four strikeouts. The bullpen came in to protect a 7-3 lead. Finnegan was shaky again, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out two. Madson gave up a hit but was otherwise efficient and effective. Hochevar gave up a walk but went otherwise unscathed. Herrera closed out the game and pitched a clean inning. The last two out were fly balls to Dyson, because of course.
Kansas City begins their final series before the All-Star Break by hosting the Toronto Blue Jays tomorrow at 7:10. Danny Duffy (2-4, 5.14 ERA) will face off against Marco Estrada (6-4, 3.59).