Wasteful

Welcome to the pennant races. Even though the Royals are some ways back in the Wild Card, they signaled their intentions to go for October at the trade deadline. That, and some inspried ball from their offense especially in the last half of July mean these games in August mean something.

That’s why Monday night’s 8-5 to the Red Sox felt like a missed opportunity. It feels a bit insane to write that. Even a bit more nuts to even think that. After all, the Royals trailed 6-0 through three innings and then 8-1 going into the eighth. After that third inning, the Red Sox never had a win expectancy less than 90 percent.

Yet when we look back at this game, it certainly seems like the Royals missed a half-decent opportunity to take game one of this series.

As I said, welcome to the pennant races.

Well, that got ugly in a hurry.

Lefty Bailey Falter, acquired in a deadline day trade with Pittsburgh, gave up a single, single, walk and single to the first four batters he faced as a Royal. It’s not quite as poetic as Miguel Asencio’s debut, but still…any time we’re thinking about Miguel Asencio’s debut that means bad things are afoot.

For a moment there, it looked like Falter would get out of the first with minimal damage. (Relatively speaking. Two runs after that would be minimal damage.) He battled back against Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela to both sky balls on the infield. That was a sequence where Falter threw nine consecutive strikes. Both pitches that were popped up were sliders on the inner half to right-handed batters.

Right-handed hitters bat just .184 against Falter’s slider. Although there is some damage done on the pitch as, of the seven hits Falter has allowed to righties on the slider, six have gone for extra bases.

Left-handed batters are hitting .267 on Falter’s slider. Yet all eight of the hits he’s allowed on that pitch to lefties have been singles.

Until Monday night.

After getting a pair of outs on the slider to right-handed batters, Falter went back to the well against Jarren Duran.

For pitch number five, Salvador Perez was set up low and away. Smart, given that the count was 1-2 and that the general location was where Duran chased a slider earlier in the count.

Alas. Pitch number five (and slider number four) was an elevated cement mixer. Duran did not hit a single.

The ball travelled 419 feet to dead center. The Royals and Falter were a strike away from getting out of the inning down just 2-0. One swing from Duran, and it turned into a five-run deficit.

As Falter was getting boxed around by Boston, the Royals were getting some good at bats going against Red Sox starter Brayan Bello. The difference was the Royals just couldn’t sustain any kind of rally.

In the second, Salvador Perez hit a double with one out. He was stranded at second.

In the third, the Royals opened the inning with back-to-back singles where both runners advanced on an error by Bello. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Jonathan India struck out. Bobby Witt Jr. was up next and walked on five pitches to load the bases. And then Vinnie Pasquantino hit a soft liner to second and Maikel Garcia struck out to end the threat.

In the fourth, the Royals again had runners on second and third with no outs. They scored this time via an Adam Frazier sacrifice fly, but that was all they could get. The final out came via a nifty grab by Duran in left on a liner off the bat of Isbel.

If you’re counting, the Royals were 0-7 with runners in scoring position in innings two through four.

By now, you probably know that Falter worked with Royals pitching coach Brian Sweeney when both were entering the professional ranks in their current roles. Falter was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fifth round in 2015 and was sent to Rookie ball in the Gulf Coast League. Sweeney was a pitching coach at the Phillies complex.

I think it’s worth highlighting this from Anne Rogers’ story on Falter today:

Falter has a 3.73 ERA this year across 22 starts. It’s been one of his best seasons as he settles into the big leagues, and he’s not only looking to continue what he’s done so far but keep improving by working with the Royals’ pitching team.

That’s partly why Falter was such an intriguing option for the Royals at the Deadline. He’s played parts of five seasons in the big leagues, first with the Phillies and then the Pirates the past two years. He has a solid foundation, but the Royals feel like there’s untapped potential.

“Part of the reason we acquired him is we think there’s a higher ceiling for him,” Sweeney said. “I feel like we can help him fine tune the pitches that he has, maybe get the strikeouts he’s looking for or just a change of profile to open up another pitch in his repertoire. I think Bailey has a lot more in him.”

Yes, it was an underwhelming first start for Falter in a Royals uniform. The staff has yet to put in work with Falter, as he just joined the team on Saturday in Toronto. But if there is something of a higher ceiling for Falter, I trust in Sweeney and company to unlock that. What also needs to be said is that the tumblers have to click into place rapidly. Now with 49 games left in the season, Falter needs to be better if he’s going to be in this rotation down the stretch.

Rogers reported that starter Michael Lorenzen will be heading to Double-A Northwest Arkansas for a rehab start on Tuesday. He’s tentatively scheduled for around 70 pitches or five innings. I would think that, given the length he’s scheduled for that, if all goes well, Lorenzen could be back in Kansas City for his next turn in the rotation. If Lorenzen is feeling good, at a maximum, he’s going to make two rehab starts.

If Falter falters again (I am so, so sorry), it’s difficult to see him sticking in the rotation down the stretch.

After failing to capitalize against Red Sox starter Bello for the better part of seven innings, the Royals bats found some late mojo. Against reliever Jorge Alcala, the Royals experienced a power surge.

Pasquantino homered over the bullpen in right-center.

Garcia put one over the Monster.

After Perez struck out, Mike Yastrzemski doubled, high off the Monster. He reached third when Duran made like a midfielder and kicked the ball toward the infield.

This felt like a pivotal moment. The Royals, after early frustrations, were battling back while the Red Sox were suddenly playing with a certain lethargy. A reliever giving up barrel after barrel and an outfielder losing focus is a harbinger of a team starting to fall apart. Believe me. I’ve seen this movie before.

Lefty Justin Wilson was summoned from the Sox bullpen. He didn’t fare much better as he gave up a single to Adam Frazier that plated Yastrzemski. Nick Lofton followed with a double high off the wall in left-center that scored Frazier.

The Royals, at this point, cut the Boston lead to just three runs.

Matt Quatraro called back Kyle Isbel for pinch-hitter Randal Grichuk. I loved this move in the moment. I will always take Grichuk hitting against a lefty, and given the three-batter rule for relievers, Boston manager Joey Cora’s hands were tied—Wilson had to face Grichuk. Also, Grichuk has had some success over his career as a pinch hitter, hitting .282/.370/.472 in 162 PAs. It felt as if the plan was coming together.

In this instance, the plan did not work as Grichuk went out of the zone to chase a slider for the second out of the inning.

That brought up Jonathan India. It was a good at bat as he fell behind 1-2 and fouled off a couple of pitches before working the count full. On the eighth pitch of the plate appearance, India walked.

It was a gift.

India flipped his bat toward the dugout after that eighth pitch, and I swear he thought he was going to get rung up. Instead, it was ball four.

When the call breaks in your favor that much, you have to capitalize. You have to.

Bobby Witt Jr. was up and was the potential tying run. He swung at the first pitch he saw and laced an inside-out liner to right field.

And this happened.

This is the feed from NESN, the Red Sox broadcast. It shows what we did not see in Kansas City, and that was third base coach Vance Wilson holding out his left hand to tell Lofton to stop. Do not pass third. Do not attempt to score. Granted, Wilson could’ve been a bit more effusive in his hold…Two arms up. One arm up and another pointing at the bag. Still…It’s very clear that Wilson was telling Lofton to stop.

You would expect Wilson to stop Loftin. Abreu in right field is a very good fielder. His arm is outstanding. In no universe does it make sense to send Loftin in that situation. I mean, the video evidence is fairly compelling given that Loftin was out by about 15 feet.

(The other bonus from the NESN feed was Lou Merloni asking, “What are they thinking?” at the end of the play.)

Give me Pasquantino with the bases loaded against a wobbly Red Sox bullpen. Even though the Sox still held a three-run lead, it felt as if they were intent on giving this game away. Instead, the Royals beat them to it. This was, quite simply, a boneheaded baserunning play from Loftin. Everything was unfolding behind him as he broke from second. Pay attention to your coach in that situation. You know, the guy who can see the entire play unfold.

Inning over. Rally over. And with Aroldis Chapaman coming in for the ninth inning, game over.