Kansas City Royals Maintain Mojo, Remain Unbeaten In Crazy 2014 Postseason

By Doug LaCerte @DLaC on October 11, 2014

You may have heard this one already, but I need to put it into my published repertoire, just so I can someday tell my children and grandchildren that I did — the Kansas City Royals just became the only team in MLB history to play four extra-inning playoff games in a single season and win them all. They’ve played five postseason games, the least exciting of which being a 8-3 divisional series-clinching victory over the team with the best record in baseball. I don’t have long to wax on about how awesome this is before Game 2, which begins today at 3 PM CT (depending on the weather), so let me wax quickly.

It was supposed to be speed against power, right? Well, it was essentially what the experts expected, just the exact opposite. The Baltimore Orioles centerfielder Adam Jones stole a bag against KC, and the Royals failed to steal a base for the first time in this postseason – but they went deep three times. Baltimore couldn’t contain the prolific power of one Alcides Escobar, who has a grand total of 20 regular season home runs in his five full seasons of big-league ball.

Despite that, Escobar’s solo shot and an Alex Gordon sawed-off triple that gave KC a big early lead, walks and a lousy infield error that dropped barely over the pitcher’s mound helped Baltimore fight back from a four-run deficit. The Royals squandered an opportunity to easily steal the game when the O’s walked the bases full without recording an out in the ninth, but then Gordo, KC’s MVP, needed just one swing to regain the lead in the 10^th and lead his club to a Game 1 ALCS victory.

Actually, the always-staunch Royals bullpen — even the untouchable Greg Holland – gave Baltimore room for drama, but Mike Moustakas and his two-run bomb in the 10^th gave KC enough room to end another long night with yet another extra-inning playoff win. Now, the Orioles get to sweat it out during their final home game before leaving for Kansas City for three meetings in what is now the heart of America’s Team.

One of the few questions left about the psyche of this KC team coming into this game was whether or not their mojo would be diminished by a long lay-off between series. We can now safely say that their sense of swag is completely unblemished. The Royals are still finding new ways to win postseason games in incredible, thrilling fashion, so you better stay tuned.

Doug LaCerte is a full-time Royals writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DLaC67, “like” him on Facebook and add him to  your network on Google.