Short-handed by ejections, Royals still race past Indians 5-2

Some 10 minutes after he was ejected from Saturday’s game, Royals manager Ned Yost took a telephone call in his office. His wife had put their 3-year-old grandson, Jordan, on the phone, and Jordan got straight to the point as Yost told it.

“Granddaddy, did you get thrown out of the game?”

“Yes, Jordan, I did.”

“Why.”

“Because I yelled at the umpire.”

“Do you have to go to timeout now?”

Yes, granddaddy was in timeout for supporting first baseman Eric Hosmer, who had argued a checked-swing third strike in the first inning.

But for the Royals, it was all good. They beat the Indians 5-2, overcoming a deficit for the second straight day.

The Royals will go for the series sweep on Sunday, but Saturday’s victory means they’ll win a series against a Central Division opponent for the first time this season, while improving to 4-4 on the road trip.

Hosmer was thrilled his teammates had his back, especially Cheslor Cuthbert, who played first base in a regular-season game for the second time in his career and was up to the task with some nice defensive plays.

But after the game, Hosmer remained agitated — not at home-plate umpire Bill Welke who did the ejecting, but third-base umpire David Rackley, who rang up Hosmer on the checked swing.

The bitterness originated in Friday’s victory over the Indians.

“I had some things to say to him obviously,” Hosmer said. “Bill didn’t agree with me. But the plain fact is (Rackley) was umpiring home plate (Friday) night and missed a bunch of calls on me then.

“And we turn around today and he misses the first call he has. To me, that’s unacceptable. Where’s the accountability? He’s a major-league umpire and he misses a bunch of calls one night, then he misses the first thing that comes his way.”

Hosmer wasn’t finished.

“As an everyday player who comes in every day ready to grind, I don’t appreciate that as a player. … I felt pretty good as a hitter there. And then the umpire takes the bat out of your hands. It (ticks) you off as a player. I was mad and I had every right to be.”

Yost said his visit to the scene was to support his player.

“Hoz didn’t think he went. I didn’t think he went,” Yost said. “I just didn’t like the call.”

But he liked the outcome, even from his office while Pedro Grifol took over bench duties in his absence.

The Royals wound up with one run in that inning that started with the bases loaded and nobody out when Hosmer struck out. Salvador Perez followed with a sacrifice fly to right.

But the Indians answered with a Francisco Lindor home run against Royals starter Jason Vargas in the first, and they took a 2-1 lead on Jason Kipnis’ RBI single in the third.

Vargas, who rode a two-game losing streak into the game, was grinding through innings and got a scare in the fourth when Kipnis drove one by the foul pole into the seats in right. The ball was called foul. The Indians challenged and lost.

“As it kept moving I saw it had a good chance to get foul,” Vargas said. “I had pretty good feeling when they went to review it that it wasn’t going to be a fair ball and we’d have another chance to get out of that inning.”

Vargas and the Royals did, and the bats took over in the sixth.

Jorge Bonifacio got it started with a one-out double. The next two hitters, Brandon Moss and Whit Merrifield drew walks to load the bases, and that was it for starter Danny Salazar.

Left-handed reliever Boone Logan was the logical choice to enter the game. Alex Gordon was 1-for-18 against Logan in his career.

But Gordon grounded a single up the middle, scoring Bonifacio and collecting his first RBI since May 9.

Right-hander Nick Goody entered to face Escobar, who roped a double past shortstop Francisco Lindor. Two runs scored for a 4-2 lead and Escobar had his first multi-RBI game of the season.

“When I hit it, it really felt good,” Escobar said. “Then I saw, “Oh, they might have it.’ But it feels really good to bring in two runs and take the lead.”

Mike Moustakas added a solo home run in the ninth, his team-leading 13th of the season.

The bullpen kept it there. Matt Strahm issued two walks in the seventh, but Peter Moylan coaxed a double play ground-out from Edwin Encarnacion. Joakim Soria pitched a perfect eighth and Kelvin Herrera picked up his 11th save as the Royals for the second straight day beat an Indians team that made life miserable for them last season with a 14-5 record, including eight straight victories at Progressive Field.

“These are the kind of games we need to play,” Vargas said. “These are the kind of momentum-builders we need and we can feed of this.”

Royals 5, Indians 2

This story was originally published May 27, 2017 at 6:20 PM with the headline "Short-handed by ejections, Royals still race past Indians 5-2."