KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Royals are now in second place in the American League Central, surpassing the Cleveland Guardians with a walk-off series win against the Atlanta Braves.
With just a single run being scored between both teams, the game was uneventful on the offensive side of the ball. However, fans got their money’s worth quickly in the 10th inning when Salvador Perez drove in MJ Melendez to score the game-winning run.
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Here’s a look at how the Royals won their third straight series:
Bullpen game shutout
The Royals’ bullpen, tasked to fill in for missing starters Michael Lorenzen, Cole Ragans and Kris Bubic, combined to throw a ten-inning shutout. Kansas City sent nine total pitchers to the mound during the game, none allowed more than two hits.
Perhaps the most impactful bullpen arm seen today was that of Jonathan Bowlan. He tossed a clean two innings with three punchouts and a walk. John Shreiber tallied three K’s as well in one inning, and Carlos Estevez threw a clean inning while showing off his reflexes on a line-drive comebacker, which he snagged easily.
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While the shutout is impressive from Kansas City’s bullpen, the Royals will need to make a move for pitching staff help before Thursday’s trade deadline if they want to stay in contention. At this time, it seems that Cole Ragans and Michael Lorenzen could return sometime in August, but All-Star starter Kris Bubic won’t pitch again this season.
Royals win with three hits
Kansas City Royals fans have been no strangers to frustrating offensive performances from their team this season. Today, however, was a rare occurrence where the offense struggled heavily and the Royals still got out with a win.
It’s hard to win games while racking up just three hits as a team, but Atlanta’s offense struggled all the same with just five hits. The Royals made one of those hits count, though, when Salvador Perez came up to bat in the bottom of the tenth. The only other Royals to get on base via a base hit were Maikel Garcia and Tyler Tolbert.
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Coming up
After the series win today, the Royals will travel north of the border to face the Toronto Blue Jays, who are currently tied with the Detroit Tigers for the winningest record in the American League.
It’s unknown at this time who will take the mound for the Blue Jays, but right-hander Michael Wacha (4-9, 3.53 ERA) is scheduled to start on Friday, August 1 at at 6:07 p.m. Wacha will look to get deep into the game to provide some relief for the taxed bullpen, but nothing is certain against a potent Toronto offense in their ballpark.
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The Royals are now 54-55, and just three-and-a-half games back from an AL Wild Card spot. They trail the Tampa Bay Rays, 54-54, and the Texas Rangers, 56-52.
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