Royals fall in Game 1
10/07/2011
It was not to be for the Royals in Game 1 of the ALDS versus the Blue Jays. In a game that saw their number two's go at it,
Kevin Correia beat
Blake Hawksworth. Many expected to see a
Roy Halladay/
Joe Blanton matchup but both starters are being held back till around Game 3.
While Hawksworth didn't pitch that bad, the Blue Jays took advantage of almost every opportunity they had. The very first batter of the game
Doyle Tyrell, was walked and that was followed by an
Elijah Dukes single. So before the hot dogs were finished in the stadium, the Blue Jays had runners on the corners with no outs.
Morgan Ensberg then hit a sac fly to deep center to score Tyrell. The Royals escaped anymore damage but were still down 1-0 after the first inning.
In the top of the third with the score still 1-0, Hawksworth was able to get Ensberg and
Reed Johnson, the first two batters of the inning, out routinely.
Cliff Floyd was the next batter up and he promptly hit a line drive center to right field. And that was followed by a two-run home run by
Adrian Beltre. Hawksworth was able to strikeout out the next batter but the damage was done. It was 3-0 going into the bottom of the third.
In the mean time the Royals bats had gone cold. They had only managed one hit and that was a double from
William Quattlebaum. With two outs in the third,
Santiago Rao managed a single but
Peter Friel immediately flied out to end any chance of a rally.
In the top of the 5th, Elijah Dukes added a solo home run to make the score 4-0. "I still felt good about the game even after Dukes homered. Blake was pitching good but we were not getting any brakes yet." said
Manager Antonio DeLeon.
Heading into the eighth inning with the score still 4-0 and the Royals bats still cold, the fans were hoping for a miracle comeback in Game 1. But they just got more heartburn.
Chris Hernandez who pitched a solid seventh inning in relief of Hawksworth, completely lost his command. He walked the first three batters of the inning.
Hernandez was quickly sent to the showers and
Rocky Biddle was brought in to stop the "rally." Doyle Tyrell immediately singled and drove in a run. Dukes was up next and Biddle managed to get him to strike out. Morgan Ensberg was up after that and he reached base on a
Rudolph Shaeffer error.
"I have no idea what happened there. I fielded the ball perfectly but when I went to grab it, I just dropped it. Maybe it was nerves but who knows." said Shaeffer.
On the error another run scored and the bases were still loaded.
Reed Johnson was up next and he hit a sac fly to center which allowed the third run of the inning. Cliff Floyd grounded out after that but the damage was done. It was now 7-0 in favor of the Blue Jays with just two innings left for the Royals.
The bottom of the eighth went 1-2-3 for the Royals and they didn't get a rally started until the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Shaeffer and Quattlebaum both singled. So they had runners on the corners and eyed a comeback. David Adam grounded out after that but Shaeffer was able to score and Quattlebaum moved up to second.
The next batter was
Joey Ros and he earned a free pass to first base.
Larry Bigbie was up next and he also singled to load the bases with two outs. The fans started getting a little crazy because if Rao and Peter Friel could reach base, that would bring up
Gene Marguez and possibly
Melvin Colmenares. But it was not to be. Rao hit a screaming line drive to the shortstop and the game was over. The Royals are now down 1-0 in the best of five series.
If there is one reason that the Royals lost its because their top of the lineup went 0-12 with the leadoff batter Friel leaving three men on base. Chalk it up to nerves or whatever you want but hopefully the Royals can carry that bottom of the ninth mini rally into tomorrow's game and tie the series at one a piece. Lets go Royals!!