A busy weekend for the Royals consisted of taking two of three games from the Cleveland Guardians and welcoming a new face to the roster ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline.
A series opener against Cleveland, scheduled for Friday was rained out, turning Saturday into doubleheader. Coming into Saturday, the Royals had played the Guardians six times and had failed to win a series, losing four of six against their division rival on the season.
Tied at 2-2 after nine innings in Game 1 of the doubleheader, the opener went to extras.
Cleveland’s second-year infielder Kyle Manzardo, who had tormented the Royals back in March at Kauffman Stadium, picked up right where he left off. In the 10th, Manzardo singled to drive in a run, giving Cleveland a 3-2 lead.
The Royals had to mount their comeback against one of the best closers in baseball, Emmanuel Clase. Clase was considered one of the first public enemies to the Royals this season when he hit Jonathan India in the helmet back in late March.
Like only the game of baseball can provide, India stepped to the plate with the winning run on base and proceeded to hit a 3-run walk-off homer to win the game and get his payback against Clase.
With a chance to win the series Saturday night, Kris Bubic took the mound and pitched a concerning first inning. He allowed three earned runs while walking four batters, clearly not looking like himself. After his exit in the third inning, reports quickly came out that Bubic was heading to the 15-day injured list citing a rotator cuff strain in his throwing arm as the reason.
The Royals attempted to claw back several times as Freddy Fermin and Bobby Witt Jr. clubbed home runs Cleveland’s bats outlasted them winning Game 2 6-4.
Some exiting news was learned during the nightcap, as the Royals made their second trade to acquire a veteran bat. The Royals traded RHP Andrew Hoffman to the Diamondbacks for 33-year-old outfielder Randal Grichuk.
After being traded mid-game Saturday night, Randal Grichuk caught a flight to Kansas City and was in the Royals’ lineup less than 24 hours later.
“It’s been a whirlwind,” Grichuk said after Sunday’s game. “Obviously, I started last night’s game in Pittsburgh as an Arizona Diamondback, came out of the game, and became a Kansas City Royal.”
Grichuk started the series finale in right field and got his first hit in Royals Blue in his first at-bat.
Grichuk’s first game with the club ended on a positive note with a 4-1 win to clinch the series.
Noah Cameron was excellent again, getting out of bases loaded jam with no outs in the 1st inning and proceeded to not allow any through five. With injuries mounting in the starting rotation, Cameron will be counted on more than the Royals may have hoped since calling him up.
After the weekend, Kansas City sits just half a game behind Cleveland, but remains 4.5 games back of the third Wild Card spot, with three teams separating them from a postseason berth.
The Royals have now won two of three series since the All-Star break and appear determined to make a push for a second straight playoff appearance with 56 games remaining in the regular season.
