Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain corners the market on web gems
As he was for most of the series and even the season, center fielder Lorenzo Cain was just where the Royals needed him in key moments on Sunday night.
Cain had a hit, an RBI and a flurry of stunning defensive plays as the Royals defeated the Angels 8-3 to win sweep the American League Division Series in front of a sell-out crowd at Kauffman Stadium.
“He’s a phenomenal center fielder,” manager Ned Yost said. “Got tremendous athleticism, he’s got tremendous speed and he gets great jumps on balls because he reads them right off the bat.”
It started with the first out of the game when he caught a fly ball from Kole Calhoun. Then, in the bottom of the inning he followed Nori Aoki’s single with one of his own to help set up Alex Gordon’s three-run double.
He added a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning to score Alcides Escobar and extend the lead.
That’s when his defensive prowess started to show.
The centerfielder went diving left then sliding right to squelch the heart of the Angels’ order with back-to-back outs in the top of the fifth inning.
“The first play I didn’t see any way that he could make that play,” Yost said. “When the ball was hit, I’m thinking, OK, that ball is a base hit and he came out of nowhere like Superman and caught it. The next play was a little bit easier but it was every bit as pretty.”
All of this from a player who never officially suited up for a game until his sophomore year of high school.
Cain finished the regular season with a team-best .301 average among regular starters which was his best in four years in the pros. It came in a career-high 133 games which passed his previous best of 115 games last season.
Defensively, he is tied with three-time Gold Glove recipient and two-time All-Star Alex Gordon for a team-high eight outfield assists which doubled his total from the previous year.
To reach Kathleen Gier, call 816-234-4875 or send email to kgier@kcstar.com. Follow her on Twitter: @kgier.
This story was originally published October 5, 2014 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain corners the market on web gems."