Royals Make Final Homestand Memorable
What a week it was for the Kansas City Royal. Finally, in the final full week of baseball in September, the Royals got their first three-game series sweep of the season. They defeated the Twins to start the week, essentially knocking them out of playoff contention.
Then the Royals took two of three games from the Seattle Mariners, a team that currently holds the final Wild Card spot in the American League. In the final homestand of the season, the Royals certainly did not disappoint the fans who went out to the ballpark over the weekend.
Let’s get into some of the highlights from this past week of Royals baseball.
At the beginning of every week, Mark Van Sickle will dive into the latest developments with the Royals. Have something you want to be discussed? Let Mark know on Twitter @MarkTheOverseer or find Inside the Royals @InsideRoyals.
Royals power through first win vs. Twins
The Royals got home runs from MJ Melendez and Hunter Dozier to power them to a win in the first game of their series against the Twins. Bobby Witt Jr. also got an RBI single on an infield hit, giving the Royals a lead for the moment. Then Salvador Perez got the game-sealing, go-ahead RBI double in the seventh inning to give the Royals the lead for good.
Scott Barlow pitched 1.2 innings to get his 22nd save of the season.
Dominant bullpen win, sweep clinched
In game two of the series against the Twins, Melendez got things started on the right foot with a leadoff home run. The Royals never looked back, pushing ahead to a 5-2 win over the Twins.
Daniel Lynch lasted only four innings, but the bullpen pitched five shutout frames to preserve the win for the Royals. Barlow picked up his 23rd save of the season during this win.
The following game, Jonathan Heasley pitched six innings of one-run baseball and Brad Keller earned his first-ever save in the Royals' 4-1 win. Edward Oliveres hit a home run in the fourth inning and Drew Waters added another one in the fifth, which was enough offense to get the win and complete the first sweep of the season for the Royals
Royals start hot, lose game two
The Royals got seven strong innings from Brady Singer in their opener against Seattle, including eight strikeouts to two walks, as Singer only allowed one run. That lowered his ERA to an incredible 2.99 on the season.
Witt opened things up in the fifth inning with an RBI double, then Vinnie Pasquantino took it from there with RBI singles in the fifth and seventh innings as the Royals beat the Mainers 5-1 in game one.
Once again in game No. 2, the Royals started the game hot and got at least one run in each of the first four innings. Unfortunately for them, Keller couldn’t keep the game in check and he allowed the Mariners' go-ahead and ultimately game-winning run in the top of the ninth inning. This was the only loss of the week for the Royals.
Incredible comeback propels Royals to 13-12 win in home finale
The Royals wrapped up their final home game of 2022 with a wild win in a perfect send-off for fans who stuck by them all season long.
After the Royals allowed the Mariners to score eight runs in the fifth inning — being down 11-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning — the offense exploded for 11 runs in the bottom half to take a 13-11 lead.
It started with a Michael Massey home run, and things just got wacky from there. There were questionable fielder's choice decisions, walks, errors and all-around bad plays by the Mariners throughout the bottom of the sixth. Everyone got in on the action and reached base in this game. Hunter Dozier had the best stat line with a 3-for-3 outing. Barlow picked up his 24th save as the Royals officially clinched avoiding a 100-loss season with the win.
The Royals will wrap up the 2022 season with a nine-game road trip, starting with three games in Detroit before heading to Cleveland for a six-game series with the Guardians. The young core of the Royals would love nothing more than to continue to finish the season on a high note.
The next game for the Royals will be against the Tigers on Tuesday, Sept. 27th at 5:40 p.m. CT. Zack Greinke is the projected starter for the Royals while Joey Wentz is the projected starter for the Tigers.
Mark Van Sickle was born in Seattle, Washington, but has lived in the Kansas City area for 30 years. He has followed the city’s sports teams along the way, from the KC Blades to the Chiefs to the Wizards/Sporting KC, now the KC Current and — of course — the Royals. Mark has been a radio producer and on-air talent in Kansas City since 2011 and is currently a producer for morning shows on KCMO Talk Radio. He is a writer and podcast host for the Heartland College Sports Network, a writer for Arrowhead Report on FanNation and a consistent guest on Roughing the Kicker Chiefs podcast. He is also a writer and weekly contributor to FanNation’s InsideTheRoyals.com