Games: St. Louis Cardinals, June 17: Judging the Royals with Lee Judge

Games » St. Louis Cardinals

Jun17

‘I’ve never been through a game like that’

How do you sum up a game that lasted five hours, went 15 innings, had 107 at-bats, 31 strikeouts, 14 walks and 458 pitches thrown? Manager Ned Yost’s quote — “I’ve never been through a game like that” — is as good a summation as any. The Royals were ahead of the Cardinals, then tied, then behind, then tied, then ahead, then tied and after Jarrod Dyson singled and the much-maligned Yuniesky Betancourt homered in the 15th inning, ahead to stay.

Afterward, the Royals clubhouse was filled with exhausted men, drooped in chairs. Jeff Francoeur, a man who will be the life of the party at his own funeral, looked up and said, “I got nuthin’ left.” No grins. No emotion. None of the exuberance common to a winning team. Just a group of very tired ballplayers packing up to fly to Houston.

Imagine what the Cardinals clubhouse must have been like.

Game notes

There’s no way to deal with everything that happened in this game without writing a novel, so I’ll touch on the events that stand out in my exhausted mind:

First inning: Chris Getz hurt his lower leg on a freak play. The Royals were in a defensive shift with the Cardinals’ Carlos Beltran hitting from the left side. The ball was hit up the middle. Chris broke to his right but decided that Alcides Escobar had a better angle and peeled off to give Alcides a clear shot at the ball — just as Esky peeled to his left to turn the play over to Chris. The Royals probably will make a roster move to replace Getz.

After the game, Chris said it was a weird play because the shift changed the usual territories that each infielder covered — “You take the balls on your side of second, I’ll take the balls on mine.” Getz and Escobar each assumed the other man would make the play, and neither did.

Second inning: With no one out and a run in, Escobar was on third base and Humberto Quintero was on first. The contact play (the runner on third breaks for home on contact) usually is on in this situation. The idea is to force the infielders to choose between turning a double play while letting a run score or throwing the ball to home plate and having two runners on base with one out.

Jarrod Dyson hit the ball on the ground, Esky broke for home and the throw beat him. Alcides did the right thing, staying in the rundown until the other two base-runners advanced. Humberto was on third, and Jarrod was on second. But then Esky made a mistake: He gave himself up between home plate and third.

Had Alcides made it back to third, there would have been two runners on the base. The defender would have tagged both men, and Quintero would have been out. The lead runner has the right to the bag. The Royals would have had the speedy Escobar on third instead Humberto Quintero.

A pitch got away from the catcher, and Humberto was unable to score. It’s doubtful that Escobar would have had different results, but you would like to see him have the chance.

Ninth inning: Billy Butler made the most of one of his few at-bats in this series, hitting a home run with two outs and two strikes in the top of the ninth inning to tie the game. Jason Motte came in to close the game for the Cards and was throwing nothing but fastballs in the upper 90s. Motte had struck out Mike Moustakas, then Alcides Escobar.

Billy thought Motte would start him with something off-speed, figuring Butler had seen what had happened to the two previous hitters and would try to be quick on the fastball. Instead of something off-speed, Motte stuck with the fastball, so Billy took it. On the second pitch, Billy was behind the fastball, so he figured Motte would give him another. Butler decided to shorten his swing and just try to make contact — 438 feet worth of contact.

Eleventh inning: With the score tied at 2, the Royals had no one out, Jeff Francoeur on third, Mike Moustakas on first and Alcides Escobar at the plate. The infield was playing in, so a double play would have been unlikely. But the defensive positioning would have made it difficult for Frenchy to score on a ground ball hit at someone.

With no one out and a runner on third, it is common to let the hitter swing. The reasoning goes like this: The offense has three chances to get the run in. There’s no need to do anything desperate. But Ned Yost had no position players left on the bench. Pitcher Tim Collins was on deck, and Jarrod Dyson was in the hole.

Collins doesn’t hit or bunt well, and Dyson was batting .238 against lefties. The Cardinals had left-handed reliever Marc Rzepczynski warming up, so Yost decided he needed to get the run in while Esky was at the plate. After that, the odds of scoring would have dropped dramatically.

Ned went with the safety squeeze. (On a suicide squeeze, the runner breaks for home when the pitcher’s front foot come down. On a safety squeeze, the runner waits until he see the bunt down to break for home). Frenchy was out with room to spare.

Ned summed it up this way: “If I’d gone to a casino today, I’d be going home broke.”

But thanks to Yuniesky Betancourt, the Royals got real lucky in the 15th.

Comments

John Wilson
1 year ago

I hope Houston’s pitching is off tomorrow because I have a feeling we spent our pitching today - but totally worth it IMO. And Bruce Chen - what can I say? Our best pinch hitter by average now? LOL Yeah, that kind of game.
Chris Campbell
1 year ago

Bruce Chen PINCH HIT?!? I’m not sure if I should laugh or cry (it’s debatable because he got a hit).

This team has a lot of fight in it. I will ALWAYS tip my hat to a team that never gives up. Fighting to the end has paid off for the Royals on several occasions recently, including today. Now it’s off to Houston. A winning series down there would be nice!
Jim Eicher
1 year ago

Hopefully there’s something left in the tank for Houston. Even evening games will probably be hot. Oh, Billy Butler is the man.
Daniel Wesley
1 year ago

I still think this team isn’t quite ready to compete for a postseason spot, but this is the kind of epic win that builds a foundation for future success. They know they can compete with anyone and just need to keep gaining experience.
John Wilson
1 year ago

The Brewers and the Cards series were epic - if we ignore yesterday’s pitching meltdown. God help us tomorrow night if our starter doesn’t have his stuff. He may get what we refer to as the “Gobble speech”. It was a Yankees games several years back where the pitching staff was used up the night before and Gobble had given up 9 runs in the first. The manager went out to the mound and told him: Son, there’s nothing left in the bullpen. It’s your game.
Dan Holmes
1 year ago

At the time, I disliked taking out Adcock for Broxton because of what might happen if Broxton did give up one run. Fortunately, we didn’t have to find out, but I imagine they could have squeezed another inning out of Colon (as they were warming up), and then… put in Sanchez on four days’ rest?

Let’s be thankful Yuni ended it when he did.
Dan Holmes
1 year ago

Also, I’m surprised Quintero didn’t get dinged on the chart for a “mental mistake”, as he seemed to have his hands on his hips when the wild pitch was thrown. (Whether he would have made it home is still debatable.)
Charles Purvis
1 year ago

Tim Collins does a great job. Again. I am not so sure HE shouldn’t be the closer.
John Wilson
1 year ago

Dan- we DID find out what would happen if Broxton gave up a run. He came back in the 15th. Apparently it was his game to win or lose. Scary Broxton pitched the 14th. Beast Broxton pitched the 15th LOL
Charles Purvis
1 year ago

A gripe: Has anyone else noticed when the camera is on the fans, just how many people have their faces buried in a cell phone? I’ve seen people in those seats behind home plate (seats which I’d kill for, to sit in just once) sitting there, oblivious to the game, texting or doing whatever else they do.
John Wilson
1 year ago

I’ve noticed that too Charles. Season ticket holders must be pretty used to really good seats to be so ho-hum as to be too busy with their phone to watch the game. I have tickets to the Frenchy Quarter August 2nd (I’ll be so bummed if they trade him before then) and I’ll guarrantee my phone wont be in my hand - my glove will be in the way LOL A great father’s day present that means will will be trekking up from the Ozarks.
Brian Courington
1 year ago

Jim E, the roof will be closed and the a/c will be on in Houston so no worries about the weather. I just hope they recover fast, I live in Houston I will be at all 3 games and want to see some good baseball.
Mike Six
1 year ago

What a game, for that matter what a week of games, I am about ready for a game where we win by 4 or 5, never expected to see Chen as a pinch hitter in this game I was wondering at one point if Chen would have been available to pitch seeing how he went less than 2 innings yesterday, Great game GO ROYALS!!
Joel Kallem
1 year ago

Going to be tough in Houston the first game of the series unless we happen to get an outstanding game from our starting pitcher which may be hard since the fielders will be mentally fatigued and not as sharp as normal. I’ll be curious to see how many mental errors we make - will kind of give us a read on how close we are to serious contending in the future. The All-Star break will be important to the team and allow a “restart”, but with a different attitude.

Cudos to Yuni for both his bat and his fielding. While he and Gio both have problems in the field, the “pop” in Yuni’s bat is superior to what Gio has produced at the major league level and is why he stays when Gio is sent down. Think I would prefer to leave Gio in Omaha right now (Yuni will play mostly at 2nd with Getz gone again) and bring back Falu so we have a true utility man available.
Greg Tatro
1 year ago

Don’t look now but the Royals are still only 5 games out this far into the season (thank goodness the AL Central is terrible). This is the type of game that can really get a team going…although from the sound of things it wouldn’t surprise me for a let down game tomorrow. Hopefully they can get the other 2 in Houston.
Terry Payne
1 year ago

So depressed that Yuni was the hero. He’s a lazy bum who tries to yank everything, when sometimes only a well-placed bingo will do the trick.

Depressed for Getzie. This guy can’t catch a break (unless of course it’s to one of his bones).

Best part about Broxton: he’s only signed for one year.
Scott Shanks
1 year ago

Lee, I think you were far too kind to Quintero. When the pitch was delivered, he was standing about 2 feet off of third with his hands on his hips. The ball rolled slowly away from Cruz and his throw to Wainwright was high well to the first base side of home plate. He probably would have scored if he was paying attention and took a normal secondary lead. Escobar would have scored easily. Quintero wasn’t even ready to score had Mendoza hit the ball.
Sara Reser Keenan
1 year ago

Yet another great win from a team that was struggling so much just a few weeks ago with winning any game in which they were behind. I like the fight I see in this team right now.

Another commenter mentioned it and some of the sportscasters were talking about it last night…how likely is a Frenchy trade? I’ll be devastated as he’s quickly become a favorite…seems to me like he’s the heart and soul of the team. And yeah…it’s a game and you need to make tough decisions, but I feel like even though we’re a young team with even younger prospects ready to come up, we need at least one or two “older” guys to lead the team on the field. I’d hate to see him go.
Jay Hall
1 year ago

Hopefully Royals fans can appreciate that we have one of the best hitters in baseball in Billy Butler. He takes far too much criticism for what he isn’t (a 40+ HR hitter) and doesn’t get enough credit for what he is (a very consistent hitter for both average and doubles with a high OBP). Oh, and occasionally he will catch a mistake on the high heat and destroy it.
Aaron Bailey
1 year ago

Lee, another thought/question about Quintero during Escobar’s rundown. He was standing a step off of third base until Esky got tagged out. Shouldn’t he have been standing ON 3rd regardless of what the lead runner ends up doing? It looked like he was ready to break back towards 2nd if Esky dove into 3rd which could’ve been a huge disaster if Escobar had been tagged out and the Quintaro caught in a rundown. It’s kind of excusable for Allen Craig to have made a mental mistake in the 14th inning, but not ok for to Quintero to be so out of it in just the 2nd.

My 2nd thought: Broxton makes me nervous (and crazy), but 2 of his 3 blown saves have come in extra-inning situations. One advantage in having a clear closer is they can plan for the ninth (some don’t even show up in the bullpen until the 7th). It looks like Broxton struggles with that change in routine/uncertainty of an extra-inning game.

Also, I thought Ned should have sent up Vin Mazzaro to pinch-hit for Adcock with the bases loaded in the 14th. They were already up by one, so Adcock was coming out. I know it’s like sending in a mouse to replace a hamster, but we have seen Vin get two base hits in just the past week.
Charles Purvis
1 year ago

What could the Royals get in trade for Billy Butler? With season-long interleague play coming, Billy presents a problem. If you put his bat in the lineup, you get his glove in the field. If he were able to play anything other than first base OR you didn’t have Eric Hosmer, it wouldn’t be that big of a deal. But the Royals DO have Eric Hosmer, whose glove far outweighs his temporary low batting average. The Pittsburgh Experiment clearly showed what can happen when you try to have both in the game at the same time. Sad to say, but I think the Royals are going to have to choose between keeping one or the other sometime in the near future.
Lee Judge
1 year ago

Jay: Billy was down 0-2, Motte was throwing 98 and my son, who was sitting next to me, said, “If Billy squares one of those up, it’ll go a mile.” Next pitch, 438 feet. It was interesting to hear Billy run through that at-bat afterwards and hear how he was thinking.

Sara: I don’t know what they’ll do with Frenchy. I have heard that when Wil Myers comes up, they want him ready to play every day. He needs to develop in Omaha to be ready. I’ve also heard he’s struggling with the breaking stuff—make a mistake and he’ll crush it—be it won’t get any easier here. That may mean Myer won’t be up as soon as some fans would like. And you’re right, Frenchy is one of the team leaders.

Scott: You could be right about Quintero. I was watching the play live and was focused on what happened at home plate. None of the replays I saw showed what he was doing. The ball didn’t get very far away, so I don’t know if Esky scores, but like I said, I’d rather have him on third than Humberto.

Which reminds me: Allen Craig failed to tag up on a fly ball to centerfield and could have cost the Cardinals the game (he got lucky and later scored). That just shows you what happens when people get so fatigued they can’t think straight.

Terry: Personally, I wouldn’t have cared if Joseph Stalin came back from the dead and hit a home run to win the game. Yuni also drove in a run in the 14th that kept the game alive. So if Yuni being a hero depresses you, be twice as depressed. The guy came through twice.

Joel: Getz was limping pretty badly in the clubhouse, so somebody will probably be up today. I’ve got no clue who, but Gio has had a couple lengthy opportunities that haven’t gone well—yet.

Mike: Chen has had a couple hits previous to yesterday’s—probably why he got the opportunity. Everyone was dreading having to listen to him talk about it all the way to Houston.

Charles: I don’t think it’s just the fans in the good seats—everyone, everywhere seems to be obsessed with their phones. Only a matter of time until a fan takes a ball off the forehead while checking Facebook. Credit the Cardinal fans for giving Esky a big ovation for a great play on that flare he caught in centerfield—and not yelling “balk” on a third and first pickoff move.

Dan and John: Can you imagine what people would be saying about Ned Yost’s managing if he finally got a lead after 14 innings and didn’t go to his closer? Ned said Broxton really wanted to go back out after blowing the save. A highly-motivated John Broxton looked different in the 15th.

And Charles, don’t forget that Collins had a bad outing in the previous game. All these guys have strengths and limitations. Broxton seems to cause some of his own problems, but he mainly gets out of the mess he created. A closer with 1.46 ERA (coming in to yesterday’s game) is OK by me.

OK, that’s it for a while. Got to drive back home today. In closing, whatever happens tonight or down the road, remember what this team did against Milwaukee and St. Louis.

I don’t know how often they’ll play this way, but we are seeing what they’re capable of when they’re playing their best.
Aaron Bailey
1 year ago

Charles, one advantage to the seaon-long interleague play is that it “should” be spread out better throughout the year. So instead of a situation like this week, with 6 road NL games in a row, it would just be 3 games one month, and another 3 a month later. I’d expect in that situation, you’d see one guy sit one game and the other sit two games. That being said, unless they could get a top-line starter, which I doubt, I’d rather not trade away the most consistent hitter in over 150 games because he becomes a pinch-hitter in 9-12.
Joel Kallem
1 year ago

Charles, you comment about trading Billy may have some validity, but before that happens the Royals need to wait and see how the whole situation works out. There is some talk that the DH could be expanded to both leagues which would leave the Royals in a solid place.
Tom Roesler
1 year ago

Grit. That’s the word that is quickly becoming the best word to describe this team…and I LOVE IT!

The other day I was talking about the non-scorecard stuff and we saw more of it yesterday. The huge bash-bro celebration at home by Billy & Dyson. The hand clap at second by Yuni after the hit to take the lead in the 14th. The bullpen catcher raising his fist as the ball sailed over the wall in the 15th. And, that’s only the stuff we get to see.

All of that shows there is a lot of good stuff going on with this team. In my opinion, that stuff doesn’t matter when all is well and teams have 3-4 run leads, but it does matter when every little thing counts.

As this team continues to come together, we’re starting to see the fruit of it all. Just the last couple weeks…all of the one run games, extra innings, drama, etc. Some teams crumble. Some teams don’t. And, our guys are starting to show what grit is all about. It’s hard not to love that kind of thing!

Go Royals!
Bob Forer
1 year ago

Best week of baseball I have seen in a long time. Doesn’t get any more exciting than that. The Royals easily could have lost every game. The 5-1 result is testament to their true grit.

A little more than a week ago I was ready to give up on the team. And now this. I think the Royals will retain my attention for the duration of the season.
Jeff Frost
1 year ago

Only one word to describe this game and this week- WOW!!!!!!!

Go Royals!
Curtis Ruder
1 year ago

Even though interleague play will be happening all season long, there will still just be 18 games per team, unless I am missing something. Billy is far and away the club’s best hitter - he is leading the team in points under this system even though he gets no points for defense at all.

So there is no pressing need, as far as I can tell, to do anything.

The one and two run games even out over the course of a season, by and large. So to some extent, this is our payback for the huge losing streak earlier when we seemed to be in every game. We weren’t as bad as it felt then, but we probably also aren’t as good as we feel now. Until we start putting up some crooked numbers with regularity, we are still a pretty mediocre team.
Charles Purvis
1 year ago

Good points, all who responded to me. I was under the impression there would be far more interleague play than what there is now.
Jeff Frost
1 year ago

Honestly, it helps tremendously that Ned has managed in the NL. He has done a very good job of making the right moves so far, even in Pittsburgh when we 0-3. He outmanaged Matheny during the entire series. The one thing I worry about, and no fault of Ned’s, but the crazy week we had with Milwaukee and St. Louis, is how many arms we will have in the Houston series. Our starters are going to have to put on their big boy pants and go deeper! Someone may even be sacrificed to go long, even if they are giving up runs! Also- I could even see Meier pitching.
Brian Rose
1 year ago

I am curious why the squeeze play goes to the first base side and not the third base side. I thought if you go down the third base line the third baseman stays back to hold the runner so more room to bunt and farther run where the first baseman can cheat in. if the thrid baseman cheats in the runner can move closer to home as well. Just curious about the reasoning. can someone help me out?

Thanks!
Joel Kallem
1 year ago

Brian,

Play goes to first because of a couple of factors including most pitchers are right handed and it is easier for them to get to a ball to their right and the fact that it forces both the first baseman and the pitcher to move which gives the batter a chance to beat it out.
Joel Kallem
1 year ago

Meant to add that most third basemen tend to be more athletic than the guy on first who is a bigger, slower guy not as used to making accurate throws under pressure.
Charles Purvis
1 year ago

It also puts the play at the catcher’s back instead of in front of him.