Kansas City Bounces Back in Royal Fashion; Game 7 Will Decide It All
Commanding. Dominant. Imperative. Ruling. Sovereign.
Any of those words could describe the Royals’ bounce back performance in their 10-0 victory in Game 6 tonight.
The lineup was ready to expose pitcher Jake Peavy after being shut down by Giants’ pitchers the previous two games. They were dead last in homers during the regular season so the key to their success was playing small ball. They relied on that strength to kick off in the right direction and piled on runs early and often like they had in their 7-2 win against him in Game 2.
Their franchise record seven-run second inning began with two straight singles before Mike Moustakas drove in Alex Gordon for the first run of the night on his RBI double. Alcides Escobar came to the plate and struck out but three singles and two doubles immediately followed to score six more runs before the inning closed.
The Royals ended a 15 inning scoreless drought with the explosion of runs that inning but their defense deserves some royal treatment as well. The 23-year-old Yordano Ventura grew up in front of the hometown fans with his seven innings of scoreless ball. He struck out four, allowed only three hits and led the charge in shutting out the Giants for the first time in the series.
It wasn’t all fun and games for the youngster though. The Giants had runners in scoring position four times but his defense came to his aid with spectacular plays to hold the shutout.
The series is now tied after Kansas City’s landslide victory. Two more runs scored before the night was over and all nine batters in the victor’s lineup finished with a hit. Omar Infante added runs in the third and fifth innings and Moustakas topped off the night with a solo shot to right in the seventh.
It’s been a series of streaks through the first six games and it sets up tomorrow night’s decisive Game 7. Some type of history will be made, we just don’t know yet.
