NEW YORK -- Before Monday¡¯s game against the Yankees, Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. acknowledged he had a bitter taste in his mouth after his team lost to the Bronx Bombers in the American League Division Series last October.
The Royals went to Kansas City with the series tied at one game apiece, but the Yankees ended up winning two games on enemy territory before advancing to the AL Championship Series against the Guardians.
¡°There were a lot of what ifs. We had a lot of motivation knowing we could have beaten them and could have done more,¡± Witt said. ¡°You try to give yourself a reset and try to get back to work.¡±
The two teams were back at it six months later at Yankee Stadium. There was a lot of adrenaline when the game started between the two clubs, but it was the same old story with the Yankees winning the game, 4-1.
It was Witt who gave Kansas City a 1-0 lead by hitting his second homer of the season on a 3-2 pitch off right-hander Carlos Carrasco. It was the second time in Witt¡¯s career that he has homered in an at-bat that went 10-plus pitches. The only other Royals player with multiple such homers since pitch counts have been tracked (1988) is Mike Sweeney.
¡°I saw all the pitches [Carrasco threw], just being able to get ready and on time on a couple of other good pitches. I was able to get out in front [on the slider],¡± Witt said.
But that was it as far as Kansas City¡¯s offense was concerned. After the Witt homer, the Royals collected one more hit and that came from Witt himself, in the ninth inning off closer Devin Williams.
Since the season started late last month, the Royals have been struggling for runs. They are 27th in the Major Leagues in runs scored (53) and have scored four runs or fewer in 15 of 17 games, which is last in the Majors. Kansas City is 6-9 when scoring four runs or fewer, and their six such wins are tied with Texas for the most in the Majors.
¡°You like to swing the bats a little bit better. Sometimes, you have to give credit to the opposing pitcher, too,¡± Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. ¡°We had a couple of walks in the first inning and we were not able to capitalize on them. It¡¯s not going to be 10, 12 runs every night. But we need to do a better job stringing some bigger innings together.¡±
Witt said he is not concerned about the offense. He believes it will pick up sooner rather than later.
¡°I know what we are capable of doing. ¡ It¡¯s just a matter of time,¡± he said. ¡°We just have to keep preparing and getting better every day. That¡¯s what we are going to continue doing.¡±
It was Carrasco who did the heavy lifting against Kansas City, pitching five innings and allowing the one run on one hit.
¡°We knew he was going to keep the ball down,¡± Quatraro said. ¡°His offspeed was down. I think his fastball shape was a little different. It had some cut on it. So it was maybe a little different than what we expected. But, overall, he did what we thought.¡±
That meant right-hander Seth Lugo needed to be perfect, but he ended up with his second loss off the season. He went deep by going 6 2/3 innings, but the long ball did him in. All four runs came in on solo homers by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham, Ben Rice and Austin Wells.
¡°We all know that he¡¯s very aggressive in the zone; he doesn¡¯t like to walk people,¡± Chisholm said of Lugo. ¡°If you watch his last couple of games, he¡¯s really been in the strike zone a lot, and in the strike zone early. I think we went up there with a plan of attack [to] get your pitch early. He throws eight or nine pitches, but get your pitch early and attack it.¡±
Maybe that¡¯s what the Royals need to do on offense.