Royals extend postseason streak, push Orioles to brink in ALCS
Reporting from KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Orioles Manager Buck Showalter maintained he didn’t want to sound like “Captain Obvious” when it came to stressing the importance of Tuesday’s game to his players.
Trailing the Royals, 2-0, in the American League Championship Series, it was obvious what needed to be done.
“They get it,” Showalter said. “They’ve gotten it. They know who they are. And it’s unconditional. I have respect for them. Sometimes you can get so involved in results, we live in such a result-oriented society. That’s part of it. Why is everybody here? You have to make sure that people are paying for y’all and me to be here. We have responsibilities.
“So you try to stay in the moment and not want something too much. Sometimes you can want something too much and get in your own way. I know that nobody is going to ‘out-want-to’ us.”
Translated from Showalter-ese, the message was “Just win, baby.”
But the Royals’ defensive brilliance foiled the Orioles again, leading to a 2-1 victory win that gave them a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
The Royals go for the sweep Wednesday, with Jason Vargas facing Baltimore’s Miguel Gonzalez.
The Royals came home to a raucous reception at Kauffman Stadium, which looked like a casting call for Blue Man Group. Fans sensed they were watching history after a 29-year playoff drought, as the Royals extended their postseason winning streak to 10 games, tied for third-longest on the all-time list and two behind the record 12 of the Yankees in the 1927, ’28 and ’32 World Series and the Yankees in the 1998 and ’99 postseasons. The Royals’ streak includes wins in Games 5, 6 and 7 of the 1985 World Series, their last postseason appearance before this year.
Billy Butler’s sacrifice fly in the sixth snapped a 1-1 tie, and the bullpen did the rest. Kansas City relievers retired the last 12 Baltimore batters, and the Orioles didn’t get a hit after Nick Markakis’ leadoff single in the third, finishing with three on the night.
“We have a chance to do something in this city that hasn’t happened in a long time,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “You forget about your numbers. Once you get to the postseason, you can make a name for yourself here. A lot of guys really took that mentality, and stayed true to it.”
Third baseman Mike Moustakas is one of those guys making a name for himself. After hitting four home runs in the first six playoff games, he showed Tuesday he was a Gold Glove-caliber third baseman, with a pair of YouTube moments that rivaled Orioles great Brooks Robinson.
In the fourth inning, Moustakas made a leaping catch to his left to rob Steve Pearce, then outdid himself two innings later on Adam Jones’ foul popup. Moustakas went into a fan pit near the third-base dugout to make the catch and fell headfirst into the group, disappearing from sight like Torii Hunter going over the outfield wall at Fenway Park in last year’s ALCS.
But unlike Hunter, Moustakas climbed to his feet and had the ball in his glove, as Kauffman Stadium erupted.
As usual, the Royals waited for their chance and seized the moment. Starter Jeremy Guthrie hadn’t pitched since their Sept. 26 wild-card clincher against the White Sox, and he looked a bit rusty in the second, when back-to-back doubles from Pearce and J.J. Hardy gave the Orioles their first lead of the series.
But Lorenzo Cain denied the Orioles another run on a long flyout to right-center, and the Royals tied it in the fourth on Alex Gordon’s RBI groundout.
The last time the Royals lost a postseason game was to the Cardinals in Game 4 of the ’85 World Series.
Incredibly, it looks like they may never lose again.
Go beyond the scoreboard
Get the latest on L.A.'s teams in the daily Sports Report newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
