Alcides Escobar comes through as Royals beat Rays 7-1, complete doubleheader sweep
Alcides Escobar finally got his pitch.
On the 11th pitch of his sixth-inning, two-out battle against Tampa Bay reliever Brandon Gomes, Escobar shot a 91 mph, two-seam fastball down the third-base line for a three-run double.
It broke a tie and proved to be the key hit in the Royals’ 7-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in the second game of a day-night doubleheader Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium.
Escobar worked his way back from an 0-2 hole to a full count before his double.
“For me, it was worth the price of admission tonight,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Escobar’s at-bat. “I don’t know what else to say. That was worth the ticket price alone to see that at-bat. You’re not gonna see a better at-bat.
“I just had the feeling he was gonna drive it hard somewhere.”
Yost’s hunch proved to be true.
After fouling the first pitch on a bunt attempt and falling behind 0-2, Escobar took the next two pitches for balls to even the count. He then fouled off three consecutive pitches, forced a full count on the eighth pitch of the at-bat and fought off two more pitches before ripping the ball into the left-field corner.
Once the ball evaded the glove of Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, Escobar immediately knew it was his best at-bat of the season.
“When it beat the third baseman, I said ‘Wow, this is nice. That’s the best at-bat right now,’ ” Escobar said. “That’s the best at-bat of the season for me.”
Left fielder Alex Gordon realized the magnitude of the sequence.
“That was the at-bat of the game,” Gordon said following a game in which he tied a career-high with four hits.
Escobar received a steady mix of sliders when he fell behind in the count, but Gomes missed with a couple and allowed Escobar to even the count. From there, he fought off fastball after fastball.
“I’m just trying to put the ball in play, looking for one pitch in the strike zone,” Escobar said. “It’s hard. They threw me a lot of (different) pitches.”
Escobar eventually got a two-seam fastball that didn’t break inside enough and delivered a hit that scored Omar Infante, Cheslor Cuthbert and Jarrod Dyson, who scored easily from first base since he was running on the pitch with the count full and two outs.
“As soon as you see that ball get past the third baseman, you know Dyson’s scoring on that play,” Yost said. “There’s not even a doubt in your mind that’s a three-run double.”
Royals 7, Rays 1
Game two
TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters
Tampa Bay | AB | R | H | BI | W | K | Avg. |
Jaso dh | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .750 |
Sizemore lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .273 |
a-Butler ph-lf | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .296 |
Longoria 3b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .276 |
Loney 1b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .279 |
Forsythe 2b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .281 |
Cabrera ss | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .222 |
Guyer rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .259 |
Kiermaier cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .255 |
Casali c | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .250 |
Totals | 31 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
TableStyle: SP-basebattersCCI Template: SP-basebatters
Royals | AB | R | H | BI | W | K | Avg. |
Escobar ss | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | .282 |
Gordon lf | 5 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | .280 |
Morales dh | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .282 |
Hosmer 1b | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .280 |
Perez c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .262 |
Orlando rf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .242 |
Infante 2b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 |
Cuthbert 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
Dyson cf | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .271 |
Totals | 7 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 7 |
TableStyle: SP-basebyinningsCCI Template: SP-basebyinnings
Tampa Bay | 001 | 000 | 000 | — | 1 | 5 | 1 |
Royals | 000 | 014 | 02x | — | 7 | 11 | 0 |
a-grounded into a double play for Sizemore in the 7th.
E: Loney (1). LOB: Tampa Bay 7, Kansas City 9. 2B: Jaso (1), Forsythe (16), A.Escobar (15), A.Gordon (13). HR: Jaso (1), off Volquez. RBIs: Jaso (1), A.Escobar 3 (31), A.Gordon 4 (39). SB: Loney (2), J.Dyson (10).
Runners left in scoring position: Tampa Bay 4 (Loney, Casali, Forsythe 2); Kansas City 4 (Hosmer 4). RISP: Tampa Bay 0 for 8; Kansas City 4 for 11. Runners moved up: A.Gordon, K.Morales. GIDP: J.Butler. DP: Kansas City 1 (A.Escobar, Hosmer).
TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers
Tampa Bay | IP | H | R | ER | W | K | P | ERA |
Andriese | 4.2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 74 | 3.11 |
Teaford | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1.59 |
Gomes L, 1-4 | 0.2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 3.81 |
Colome | 2.1 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 34 | 4.79 |
TableStyle: SP-basepitchersCCI Template: SP-basepitchers
Kansas City | IP | H | R | ER | W | K | P | ERA |
Volquez | 5 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 101 | 3.40 |
Finnegan W, 2-0 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 2.21 |
Hochevar | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 4.50 |
Madson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1.60 |
Inherited runners-scored: Teaford 2-0, Colome 1-1, Hochevar 1-0. HBP: by B.Gomes (Orlando).
Umpires: Home, Tim Timmons; First, Todd Tichenor; Second, Chris Segal; Third, Marcus Pattillo. Time: 3:10. Att: 28,119.
This story was originally published July 7, 2015 at 10:23 PM with the headline "Alcides Escobar comes through as Royals beat Rays 7-1, complete doubleheader sweep."