Hey, They Tried! Indians 12, Royals 5

I’m known for being smug and harsh in these recaps. So Twitter user @BHIndepMO challenged me to do a whole recap in a completely positive voice. So here you go!

The Royals tried really hard, but they lost to the Cleveland Indians, 12-5, on Sunday afternoon. They couldn’t quite complete a three-game sweep.

Things began positively, though! Whit Merrifield led off the contest with a home run, his 10th of the year.

Jorge Lopez had a great first three frames! Sure, he may have given up five runs in the fourth inning, but three of his four innings were really good! Cleveland got five in the fourth to go up 5-1, but the Royals got one back in the home half of the inning when Salvador Perez hit a solo home run to center field. At the end of four, the Royals trailed, 5-2.

They got two on with none out in the fifth, but Drew Butera bounced into a hard-luck double play. He may only be hitting .181 and be 35 years old and blocking the young catchers in the organization from grabbing some much-needed playing time, but he tries his best and does awesome hair flips! We forgive you, Drew!

And Alcides Escobar, man he hit a double! Great for him! Adalberto Mondesi probably wouldn’t have done that; let’s keep him on the bench to learn from Esky down the stretch of this season. That’s what he really needs!

Cleveland grabbed two in the top of the sixth, but the Royals answered in the home half. Lucas Duda smacked a homer, a two-run blast, to pull Kansas City back within two. I know exactly why he’s getting playing time, and I agree with it: they need to get his trade value up, because come on, what playoff contender wouldn’t LOVE to have Lucas Duda on their team? That’s 13 whole home runs for Duda this year, which is as many as Eric Hosmer has!

Duda drove in a fifth run in the eighth inning on a hilarious infield single. Of course, that came after Cleveland scored two more runs.

Jason Kipnis had four hits and four RBIs. That would be understandable if it was 2013. But it is not 2013, and Kipnis was hitting .215 entering this game. At least the Royals won the first two!

Bottom line: they tried their best, which is what we should be proud of. You may look at the Royals and see 40-91, but I look at them and think “Man, these guys really care!” And that’s good enough for me! What’s winning baseball or building for a future when you can make guys like Escobar and Butera feel appreciated by playing them in more than half the games? You go, Dayton! You go, Ned!

Speaking of Ned, he let Brandon Maurer get some action because sure why not, everybody should get a chance to play! Then Maurer gave up a two-run, inside-the-park homer to Kipnis after Alex Gordon, who has won Gold Gloves in left field but today was starting in right field, woefully misplayed a fly ball to deep right field. It’s okay, Ned, you win some and you lose some!

I can’t do this anymore. What kind of idiotic charade is Ned Yost trying to pull on us by playing Alex Gordon in right field? Or benching Adalberto Mondesi? Or pitching Brandon Maurer in any situation? That Baltimore newspaper got it right: Ned Yost is a dunce. And no, this team wouldn’t be any better with any other manager, but that doesn’t change the fact that Ned Yost is still a big fat dunce.

Cut Escobar. Cut Butera. Cut Maurer. Play literally ANYBODY else in the organization. Call up the single worst pitching prospect in A-ball in the farm system and let him take Brandon Maurer’s roster spot. That would be a better use of time than pitching Brandon Maurer at all. Just cut ties and be done with it! Do LITERALLY anything else!

In other news, it was an eventful day for ex-Royals, both for good and for bad. Kendrys Morales hit a homer in his 7th game in a row, which is a Blue Jays record. If he homers in his next game, it will tie the all-time MLB record. Kelvin Herrera was carted off the field in New York with an apparent ankle injury, and it did not look good.

Tomorrow is a much-deserved off day (for the fans). They’ll go back to work on Tuesday when the Tigers come in for a brief two-game stint. Jake Junis will oppose Matt Boyd.