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Royals vs. Astros, Game 8 Game Thread

We could use more Lorenzo Cain dingers.

By Kevin Ruprecht
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Homers are pretty great, obviously. They score runs! Guaranteed runs! The Royals tend not to hit many, so perhaps Royals fans tend to celebrate them more than others. In particular, Lorenzo Cain home runs are awesome. Here's his home run from last night

That ended up being a line drive homer that barely cleared the tall wall in left field. However, here is what is so awesome about witnessing a Lorenzo Cain home run. The ball just gets blasted. I can't tell where the ball is after he makes contact. I've written recaps here in which Cain has hit a home run, and I'm relatively sure I've used the word "obliterate" in every one (don't fact-check me on that). When Cain hits a home run, the ball disappears into the ether before re-emerging on the other side of the fence.

Interestingly, that particular ball is a home run only in Minute Maid Park according to the ESPN Home Run Tracker. Its exit velocity was only 96.4 mph. Take a look at his other home run, though.

That's another lined shot, but it left the bat at a whopping 115.1 mph and would exit 30 out of 30 ballparks. Although you can pretty clearly see the ball after Cain makes contact, the word "oblivion" still comes to mind.

Tonight, Yordano Ventura gets the start against Scott Feldman. On a team with youngsters, Feldman is an outlier veteran who is ground-ball prone. He's not much for strikeouts, so look for the Royals to put a lot of balls in play.

Here are the lineups:

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