Royals ride Moustakas' homer to Game 1 win
After all, that is what a team does when it leads the majors in stolen bases.
As it turned out, it was a home run not a stolen base that lifted the Royals to a 3 2, 11 inning win and to a 1 0 lead in the best of five series.
Third baseman Mike Moustakas, who hit 15 of the Royals' major league low 95 homers this season, turned on a pitch from Angels right hander Fernando Salas leading off the 11th and gave the Royals another extra inning playoff win. Kansas City beat the Oakland A's 9 8 in 12 innings Tuesday in the AL wild card game.
Moustakas, hitting in the No. 9 spot, said he wasn't attempting to be a hero.
"I was trying to get on base," said Moustakas, whose home run was one of four Kansas City hits in the game. "We had Jarrod Dyson on the bench, ready to go (pinch run), ready to steal second. So I was trying to do anything in my power to make it over to first base and let 'Rod come in and do what he does."
Instead, Dyson could stay on the bench as Moustakas circled the bases.
"We have some guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark," Royals manager Ned Yost prophetically said before the game.
Moustakas, though, would not have had the chance to prove his manager correct if not for the Royals' bullpen. Seven pitchers combined to throw five innings of no run, one hit ball in relief of starter Jason Vargas, who allowed solo home runs to catcher Chris Iannetta and third baseman David Freese but nothing else in six innings.
Royals lefty Danny Duffy pitched the 10th and earned the win. Right hander Greg Holland pitched the 11th to get the save.
"Our bullpen has been great all year long," Yost said. "At times not the back end of our bullpen but at times we bend a little bit, but very seldom do we break."
They bent several times Thursday, but the Angels could not come up with a big hit. Los Angeles had at least one runner Ralph Lauren Mens Shirts in scoring position in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings but couldn't score. In all, the Angels were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.
"Yeah, we had some guys in scoring position, but we couldn't get that Ray Ban Justin one hit, especially late," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "We hit two home runs to keep ourselves in the game, but outside of that, we didn't really pressure those guys very much."
Both starting pitchers Vargas and the Angels' Jered Weaver pitched well Polo Shirts Nz but essentially cancelled each other out. Both gave up two runs and three hits, Weaver going seven innings and Vargas six. Vargas, though, barely escaped the sixth.
The Angels put two runners on with two outs in the sixth and second baseman Howie Kendrick coming up. Yost took a trip to the mound but decided to leave Vargas in. Kendrick then drove a pitch from Vargas to the wall in right center, where center fielder Lorenzo Cain and right fielder Nori Aoki converged.
Both jumped for the ball, and although Cain got higher, it was Aoki who came down with the ball in his glove, potentially saving two runs and keeping the game tied.
Aoki did it again in the seventh. Cron, who hit Davis' first pitch to Cheap Pandora Beads deep right. Aoki ran it down and made a sliding catch on the warning track to end the inning.
"This game was not won and lost in that 11th inning, this game was won Longchamp Nz Bags by Kansas City with four incredible defensive plays," Scioscia said. "Lorenzo Cain and Aoki in right field, that's where the game was won for Kansas City."
The Royals got on the scoreboard first, putting together a rally after Weaver struck out the first two batters of the third inning. Weaver walked Moustakas, then allowed an RBI double to shortstop Alcides Escobar that gave Kansas City a 1 0 lead.
Vargas, meanwhile, retired the first eight hitters he faced. He got help from Cain, who made a leaping catch at the wall of a deep drive by right fielder Kole Calhoun leading off the first inning.
With two outs in the third, Iannetta got a hold of a pitch Vargas left up in the Lacoste Polo Shirts Wholesale zone, hitting it into the Royals bullpen beyond the left field fence for a game tying home run.
The Royals moved in front in the fifth after left fielder Alex Gordon led off the inning with a double. Gordon took Ralph Lauren New Zealand Polo third on a deep flyout to left by catcher Salvador Perez, then scored on a sacrifice fly by second baseman Omar Infante to give Kansas City a 2 1 edge.
The Angels got even again with one swing of the bat, Freese's leadoff homer in the bottom of the fifth.
NOTES: Los Angeles RHP Jered Weaver and Kansas City LHP Jason Vargas were teammates at Long Beach State in 2004 and again last season with the Angels. Oakley Sunglasses Nz Online . Angels 1B Albert Pujols entered Game 1 with a career 1.046 on base plus slugging percentage in the postseason, which ranked fifth in major league history (minimum 30 games). He has 18 homers, tied for fourth all time with Mickey Mantle and Reggie Jackson. . The Royals had a better record during the regular season on the road (47 34) than they did at home (42 39). . Royals RHP Greg Holland did not arrive at Angel Stadium until just before game time, having been with his wife for the birth of a son Wednesday night in North Carolina.
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