The MLB Playoff Standings has the Kansas City Royals through with a win over the Oakland Athletics after a hit from Salvador Perez after the game went into extra innings at Kauffman Stadium and now the Royals are through to the ALDS after the win on Tuesday night it came after the Kansas City Royals
Ned Yost pulled James Shields from the game for KC and that left Brandon Moss to give the A's the lead and eventually the win. The game went into the 12 th and was won by Perez. The Royals scratched back in the eighth inning and they eventually scored the game tying run in the bottom of the ninth on a long sacrifice fly to send the game into extras. Ned Yost was bailed out temporarily after the Royals tied the game and the Athletics were left to wonder how their four run lead evaporated.
Brandon Moss opened up the game with a two run home run against James Shields and that was just his third home run since the Yoenis Cespedes trade and later he gave the A's the lead for good with a blast in the sixth. The Royals brought in a rookie pitcher with only one other relief appearance for Shields and he promptly gave up a home run after two balls to Moss. The Royals season was nearly over after that pitch and the decision clearly turned out terrible for Yost.
Jon Lester pitched a great game for a while and he went deep and that gave the Athletics the chance to win, but they couldn't hold it. The Athletics blasted five runs in the sixth inning and they had 11 hits by seventh inning and that was one of the best offensive games of the season half. Moss hit two home runs after hitting just two in his last 52 games before the wild card and he was the hero. Yost made the terrible decision, while the experienced Bob Melvin started Moss for Adam Dunn, which obviously worked out.
Shields pitched a great game and left with the lead but also with two runners on base in the sixth inning before he was pulled by manager Ned Yost. The move turned out to be a disaster and that move nearly lost the game for the Royals, as the Athletics made them pay right away with a home run from Brandon Moss, his second of the game. The Royals showed their inexperience in that moment and the blown steal with Billy Butler in the first inning and that sent the team home after making the playoffs for the first time in nearly 30 years.
The Royals had the best bullpen in the league apart from the Mariners this season and that begs the question: why did Yost bring in a rookie pitcher with just one relief appearance over one of his other relievers? Yes, everyone has their defined roles with seventh, eighth and ninth innings, but Yost should have realized the sixth inning situation was likely the most important of the game. Yost held Wade Davis and Greg Holland in his back pocket as weapons, but his earlier move made it so that he didn't even get to use them as they were meant to be used.
Royals advance into the American League division series against the Angels. The Detroit Tigers and the Baltimore Orioles are playing in the other series in the AL and they are starting up later in the week.
