The Royals stake a claim to first place in the AL Central

The boys are playin' some ball. And they're in first place.

For the first time since April 13, the Royals find themselves in first place in the American League Central.

They’ve catapulted themselves into a tie for the division lead by following up Monday’s doubleheader sweep with a thorough, rain-delayed drubbing of the Guardians. They brushed aside Cleveland by a score of 6-1 and they now join them at the top of the Central.

It’s tempting to get ahead of ourselves. This is heady territory given that, at this point last season, the Royals were 50 games under .500. Fifty games! After Tuesday’s victory, the Royals are now a season-best 17 games over .500. The turnaround has been historic and extraordinary. Yet the job isn’t done. Plenty of baseball is ahead.

Still…first place on August 28.

The Royals. The Royals are in first place.

A quick one today as the boys go for the sweep in Cleveland with a first pitch at 12:10. The Guardians best starter this year, Tanner Bibee, will face off against Michael Wacha.

I imagine this was JJ Picollo when greeting Paul DeJong as he walked across the field to the Royals dugout from the White Sox.

DeJong was having…well, he was having a Paul DeJong kind of season. Decent. Solid. Semi-productive. He was hitting .228/.275/.430 for the Sox, with 18 home runs and a 96 OPS+. Those numbers were somewhat in line with his career rates.

Since then? Since then he’s played baseball like a man reborn. For the Royals, DeJong is hitting a robust .296/.361/.574, good for a 151 OPS+. He put the Royals ahead early with his fifth home run since coming over in the trade.

That’s going the opposite way on a 98 MPH four-seamer that’s running in. Impressive.

DeJong, like most hitters, generally finds his power on the pull side. This year, more than any other save his rookie 2017 campaign, he’s been going to the right of center every so often.

I mention this, not because I think DeJong is developing some sort of improved power stroke. Rather, I’m just impressed that at 30 years old and eight years in the majors, DeJong is able to tap back into that opposite field power. It makes me think that the power he flashes will remain consistent throughout the remainder of the season. It’s not a huge deal, but it’s important as September (and possibly October) approaches. The pitch DeJong hit out has no business leaving the yard in that location. DeJong made it happen. His presence provides that lineup length I was lobbying for last winter. Better late than never. He’s been an outstanding acquisition for Picollo and the Royals.

The Royals bullpen after reading my description of them yesterday as “nightmare fuel”:

Pressed into action early for the third game in a row, this time after starter Michael Lorenzen exited the game with a hamstring strain, all the relievers did was put together 7.1 innings of what was basically shut-down baseball.

Carlos Hernández, in his first action since being recalled on Monday, pitched a solid 2.1 innings. He got into a bit of a tight spot by allowing a two-out walk in the fourth that was followed by back-to-back singles to plate the Guardians’ only run of the evening. Still, he looked good in his return.

From Anne Rogers, here’s what Quatraro had to say about Hernández:

“Carlos set the tone. We don’t know what we’re going to get there. He got one day rest prior to that, he had 23-25 pitches a couple days earlier. So he was going three [days] out of five, coming into a big spot in the lineup. And he really nailed it.”

James McArthur came in next. He had two innings and his curve was lethal.

I’m sure I’ve seen that pitch bite like that, but certainly not lately. Damn if that wasn’t filthy.

John Schreiber and Sam Long got the seventh and eighth respectively. Long was going to have the fifth, but the umpires called for the tarp with the rains coming. Back to the bullpen he went. Didn’t matter. And then…then!…Chris Stratton pitched a one-two-three ninth to secure the win.

Through the first three games of this series, the bullpen has thrown a combined 16.2 innings, allowing just two runs. They’ve struck out 13 and walked five while allowing eight hits. On Tuesday, they didn’t allow a baserunner after the rain delay.

Perhaps I owe them an apology? Or maybe I should double down with my previous critique to keep them motivated?

As for Lorenzen, he will head back to Kansas City for an MRI on his hamstring. Quatraro said it was “doubtful” he would be making his next start. That likely would’ve been the series finale in Houston on Sunday. If Lorenzen goes on the IL, I wouldn’t be surprised if Alec Marsh, who started the second game of the doubleheader on Monday, returns to make a start.

It’s bad timing for Lorenzen and the Royals as the rotation continues to show the wear and tear that comes with battling through the long season. Injuries like this make it less likely the Quartraro can effectively juggle his rotation to give guys like Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo an extra day of rest here or there. Hopefully, it’s just a mild strain and he can come back in a couple of weeks.

As good as the bullpen has been going, you still craved another run or three later in the game. A 2-1 margin was just a little too tight.

A leadoff walk against Scott Barlow in the top of the seventh opened up a bizarre inning where the Royals scored three to put the game out of reach.

The key moment…would you believe a two-strike hit and run with runners on second and third? That’s what it looked like for Maikel Garcia as the third hitter of the inning. That’s after Garcia fouled off two pitches where he tried to get down a bunt—about as ballsy a strategy I can recall. And it worked! Garcia fought off an inside fastball and looped it into shallow right field. That scored pinch runner Garrett Hampson from second and allowed Adam Frazier to go from first to third. Frazier then scored on a wild pitch.

Michael Massey put the finishing touches on the frame with a single that brought Garcia around.

Cue the Denny Matthew’s quote about when it’s your year.

I’m not super pleased with all the TOOTBLANing I saw in the later innings. Sloppy baseball. The most egregious was Witt trying to tag up from second and go to third on a fly ball to left. He was thrown out for the third out of the inning before Freddy Fermin was able to get the 90 feet from third to home. That cost the Royals a run that, in the big picture, didn’t mean much as they were leading by five at the time with three outs to go. But do you really want to take an RBI away from The Captain? Not cool, Bobby. Not cool.

I’m also not pleased to see Witt take a pitch off his hand a couple of innings earlier. Note to the rest of the league: Stop hitting the kid. It was a relief to see him stay in the game, but that’s kind of expected. It was an even greater relief to see him pull a double to left in that ninth inning. The Royals say he went for a precautionary X-ray on his right middle finger after the game. Hopefully, he’ll be in Wednesday’s lineup.

Let’s wrap this up. The Royals have another game in just a few hours. How about some playoff odds? Would you be interested to see that they’re greater than 90 percent?

Everything is in play. Everything. This run of 20 games takes even added importance. The Royals have gone 4-2 in the first six. Now, they have to hold serve here in the middle of this stretch. It’s looking good at the moment, but the job is unfinished. Stay steady.