Royals reliever Joakim Soria blows another save as Kansas City loses 5-4 to Oakland

To apportion blame in the game of baseball is to traffic in the imperfect, to look for answers in the gray. There are too many moving parts, of course, too many little moments, too many decision, too many innings, too many hypotheticals and scenarios that can make the whole exercise a fool’s errand.

In baseball, this is the law of the jungle. One man cannot decide a game. But then sometimes the windows line up just right, sometimes the right storm appears, sometimes the numbers are startling, and you’re left with an undeniable question. For instance: Where would the Royals be this season without the pitching of reliever Joakim Soria?

It is, no doubt, an unfair query on some levels, but it was impossible to ignore after a 5-4 loss to the Oakland A’s on Tuesday night, a defeat in which Soria contributed to another bullpen collapse. In a season that began with designs on a third straight trip to the World Series, it was the only question that mattered on a rain-soaked evening at Kauffman Stadium.

In the top of the eighth inning, Soria arrived from the bullpen and allowed a two-run double that sunk the Royals. In the moments after the game, he sat at his locker and said the pitch was down. In a postgame interview, Royals manager Ned Yost sat a microphone and expressed faith in a reliever who, at the moment, appears broken.

“Ultimately, it’s my plan,” Yost would say. “I’m responsible for my plan, and that was my plan, it didn’t work.”

It would be too simple to say that Soria was the sole reason the Royals lost on Tuesday, because it is always too simple to say that. But in other ways, here it was, a rerun of a season-long theme, Yost and Soria conspiring on another bullpen blowup, the Royals’ faint playoff hopes taking another blow after a second straight loss to the A’s.

In the moments after his seventh blown save, including his third this month, Soria sat in the corner of the clubhouse, facing a wall of cameras and reporters. The moment felt familiar. In 144 games this season, Soria has suffered eight losses. Eleven times he has entered a game with the Royals ahead or tied — only to allow the go-ahead run to score. On Tuesday, in fact, Soria didn’t add to the latter two categories. He entered the eighth inning with two men on base and two outs, which only added to the din of second guessing.

As the eighth inning began, the Royals had led 3-1, and starter Danny Duffy had returned to the mound. He had allowed just one run in seven innings, and Yost was hoping to squeeze one more inning out of his starter before turning to Kelvin Herrera in the ninth. According to Yost, closer Wade Davis was unavailable after a heavy workload over the weekend. But the Royals just needed to get through one inning. Then things went haywire.

Duffy allowed a solo homer to A’s third baseman Ryon Healy before retiring Stephen Vogt. Former Royals outfielder Brett Eibner would draw a walk, prompting Yost to emerge from the dugout. Yost summoned left-handed rookie Matt Strahm, who had recorded a 0.54 ERA in 16  2/3 innings. Strahm coaxed an infield pop-up before allowing an infield single to third.

Royals' Danny Duffy talks after latest start  

With two men on and right-handed hitter Jake Smolinsky coming up, Yost called on Soria. From a statistical point of view, the move, in theory, was a sufficient one.

“Smolinsky is tough on lefties,” Yost said. “He’s a platoon player. He’s hitting .315 against lefties, and we knew from that point on, we would have Jack come into the game and handle those righties.”

Even when Oakland countered with left-hander Yonder Alonso, Yost was pleased with the matchup, he said. Alonso entered the night hitting .265 against right-handed pitchers. It should be noted here, of course, that the calculation didn’t account for Soria’s recent struggles and his year-long issues in high-leverage situations. It didn’t take into account that Strahm has been solid against just about everyone this year.

And, yes, moments later, Alonso bashed a 0-1 fastball to deep center field, over the head of Jarrod Dyson and to the outfield wall. The double cleared the bases, giving the A’s a 4-3 lead. Oakland shorstop Marcus Semien added another RBI single before Soria ended the inning.

“I got confidence in all my players,” Yost said. “That’s just the way it is. If I don’t have confidence in a player, I’m not going to have him on this team. I had confidence in Jack. I thought the situation was a good situation for him. I didn’t mind the matchup with Alonso. I thought that we improved our odds — .315 against a left, .265 against a righty. Jack’s had two days off.”

The Royals, 74-70, dropped five games behind Baltimore in the race for the second American League wild-card spot. With 18 games to play, and five teams ahead of them in the standings, a third straight postseason berth appears a bridge too far.

“The whole season has been weird,” said Soria, whose ERA jumped to 4.19. “It’s been different. Broken-bat hits. Today, it was probably supposed to be ‘no-doubles defense’ and he gets a double right to the middle of the field. Overall, it’s a weird season.”

This, of course, was not what the Royals had in mind when they reunited with Soria in the offseason, signing the former All-Star closer to a three-year, $25 million contract. It is impossible to say where the club would be with a different reliever throwing Soria’s innings. All relievers lose games, of course. But if the Royals had won even half of Soria’s blown saves — a modest estimation — they would still be right in the thick of the wild-card hunt.

Instead, they are here, swallowing hard after another stinging loss.

“As a manager, you like to know what you’re going to get,” Yost said, trying to reckon with another loss. “When Wade comes in and Kel comes in, you got a pretty good idea what you’re going to get. With Jack this year, it’s been really good outings, it’s been not so good outings.

“Again, I had Jack back in his hey-day when he was here. And those were the outings you could really count on. You just get to the ninth inning and Jack is gonna close it out. His stuff is still good. I just don’t know. He’s just having a rough year.”

Athletics 5, Royals 4

a-doubled for Smolinski in the 8th.

1-ran for Pinder in the 8th. 2-ran for Merrifield in the 9th.

E: Semien (19), Merrifield (4), Moylan (3). LOB: Oakland 2, Kansas City 8. 2B: Alonso (27), Cuthbert (26). HR: Davis (37), off Duffy; Healy (9), off Duffy. RBIs: Semien (60), Davis (90), Healy (25), Alonso 2 (50), Escobar (49), Orlando 2 (38). SB: Dyson (27), Escobar (17).

Runners left in scoring position: Kansas City 5 (Hosmer, Morales, Perez, Escobar, Orlando). RISP: Oakland 2 for 2; Kansas City 2 for 10. Runners moved up: Hosmer 2. GIDP: Semien, Valencia, Vogt, Morales. DP: Oakland 1 (Semien, Pinder, Valencia); Kansas City 3 (Merrifield, Escobar, Hosmer), (Escobar, Merrifield, Hosmer), (Escobar, Merrifield, Hosmer).

Blown saves: Soria (7). Holds: Dull (13). Inherited runners-scored: Hendriks 1-0, Strahm 1-0, Soria 2-2. WP: Cotton, Hendriks.

Umpires: Home, Dana DeMuth; First, Adam Hamari; Second, Mike Estabrook; Third, Greg Gibson. Time: 2:56. Att: 29,523.

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This story was originally published September 13, 2016 at 9:31 PM with the headline "Royals reliever Joakim Soria blows another save as Kansas City loses 5-4 to Oakland."