How The Kansas City Royals Got Their Mojo Back In 2014 World Series

By Doug LaCerte @DLaC on October 23, 2014

The Kansas City Royals entered Game 2 of the 2014 World Series with some simple but important needs. KC needed to see some production from the weak spots in their lineup, and they needed to see a reliable Yordano Ventura on the mound. Wednesday’s game thankfully gave the Royals exactly what they needed.

Scoring a run in the bottom of the first to tie things up was crucial and clutch, but this game was decided by an offensive explosion from KC in the sixth. While the return of the offense was definitely a sight for sore eyes after the team was dominated by Madison Bumgarner in Game 1, what was more important were the contributions of Billy Butler, Salvador Perez and Omar Infante in the big inning. The Royals and their raucous fanbase were thrilled to see five RBI come from the trio, who had struggled in noteworthy fashion throughout this postseason, inciting criticism and frustration by failing to pull through in clutch situations.

In the end, seven runs in total probably would’ve covered up a subpar start, but Ventura didn’t need much run support to lead his team to a 1-1 tie in the Fall Classic.

Whenever Ventura wasn’t overthrowing, he looked incredibly hard to hit. As the youngest and least-experienced starter in KC’s postseason rotation, he had perhaps the most question marks surrounding him of any starter entering this Series. Now, the Royals can be confident that he will be ready in his next World Series start, if he gets one.

While the series is still anybody’s for the taking at this point, these positives afforded the Royals a pleasant plane ride to the West Coast, along with the confidence that the momentum they’ve gained throughout this postseason will follow them into Game 3 and beyond.

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