Umpire’s call irks Royals in 3-2 loss to the Rays in series finale

Kendrys Morales stood rooted in the left-handed hitter’s side of the batter’s box at Tropicana Field, stunned at what was unfolding in front of him in the eighth inning of a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

In Morales’ eyes, he had hit a ground-ball foul down the first-base line. In the eyes of first-base umpire Alan Porter, the ball was fair. Rays first baseman James Loney fired home, where catcher Rene Rivera tagged out Ben Zobrist, who represented the tying run. As Morales stayed stationary, Rivera tagged him for the third out.

“The game shouldn’t be decided on a play like that,” said Morales, through the translation by catching coach Pedro Grifol.

After the game, manager Ned Yost declined to distill the day’s result — which cost Kansas City, 80-50, a chance at a sweep — down to the outcome of that eighth-inning double play. He mentioned several times a bases-loaded opportunity in the third, when Mike Moustakas rocketed a line drive directly into an infielder’s glove.

But in the moment, Yost’s disgust with the situation was obvious. He tromped from his dugout to discuss the situation with both Porter and home-plate umpire Clint Fagan. There was nothing for Yost to do. The call relied on the umpire’s discretion, and Yost could not challenge it.

“It was his judgment that it was fair, but if you go back and look at the replay, obviously, it’s not,” Yost said.

Yost did not criticize Morales for not breaking out of the box. In his mind, there was no reason for Morales to head to first. Loney intercepted the baseball several steps in front of the bag, which prevented the ball from drifting to the right of the line.

“We generally don’t run on foul balls, and it was a foul ball,” Yost said.

The defeat ended a brief road trip on a slightly sour note. Even so, Kansas City completed the month with a 19-9 record. The team still holds a six-game lead over the hard-charging Toronto Blue Jays, who clobbered the Detroit Tigers this weekend, for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Yet the Royals look forward to today’s day off and Tuesday’s opening of September. The club can use the reinforcements brought by next month’s roster expansion to help their battered bullpen. Ryan Madson remains wracked with a dead arm, Kelvin Herrera was unavailable Sunday and closer Greg Holland has battled inconsistency all season.

The shortened bullpen contributed to Yost’s dissatisfaction with the performance of starter Danny Duffy. Duffy struck out six and limited Tampa Bay to two runs, but he required 99 pitches to complete five innings. He needed 32 to finish the first inning.

In the sixth, Luke Hochevar gave up a solo homer to outfielder Kevin Kiermaier that proved decisive. Kiermaier crushed a misplaced cutter.

“Out of my hand, it just kind of sputtered,” Hochevar said. “It just kind of spun, instead of cutting hard in on his hands. It stayed up, middle in, and he put a good swing on it.”

Yost considered this one poor pitch in an otherwise sterling, two-inning outing from Hochevar. The disappointment rose from Duffy’s abbreviated performance.

“I just threw a lot of pitches in the first,” Duffy said. “That’s really all I can say. It just cost me going deeper into the game.”

Duffy labored through a first inning marked by eight foul balls in the first three at-bats. He gave up a leadoff single to outfielder Brandon Guyer and walked the No. 2 hitter, Daniel Nava. With two outs, outfielder Joey Butler sliced a sinking liner into right field.

Starting in place of Alex Rios, who has missed the last two games due to illness, Zobrist charged forward. He dived to catch the ball, but could only trap it against the outfield turf. Guyer jogged home for the game’s first run.

“I thought Danny was inconsistent early, especially in the first inning, and then kind of settled in,” Yost said. “But by the fifth inning, his pitch count was so high. It was a day we needed him to go deep into the game.”

Kansas City posted two runs in the third. Benched in favor of Zobrist for the foreseeable future, Omar Infante returned to second base when Zobrist played the outfield. Infante sparked the offense with a leadoff single.

Next up was Drew Butera, and he laid down a bunt in front of Rivera. Butera took advantage of an infield shift by the Rays. Second baseman Logan Forsythe started the play up the middle. When first baseman Nava ran ahead to scoop the bunt, there was no one left to cover the bag.

A pair of hits by Zobrist and Lorenzo Cain shuttled both runners home. Zobrist threaded a single up the middle. Cain floated an opposite-field knock into right field. But Yost would fixate on the result three at-bats later, when Moustakas rifled a ball right at Nava at first.

“We had the bases loaded and Moose hit an absolute bullet,” Yost said.

Guyer evened the game with one swing in the bottom of the third. Guyer fouled off three fastballs before unloading on a 94-mph heater on the inner half. His solo shot cleared the left-field fence.

“Guyer, he’s out there battling,” Duffy said. “He doesn’t quit.”

The Royals would not mount a rally until the eighth. So often in these spots, Morales has come through in 2015. He leads the team in RBIs. He can customize his approach based on specific situations, modifying his method of attack to fit the moment.

In this case, Morales believed he never received the chance. He thought he hit a foul ball. And there was nothing he or Yost could do to argue with the umpire’s decision.

“It is a little bit frustrating,” Grifol said. “He thinks that play should be reviewable. It’s not part of the rules, but he thinks it should be. He doesn’t feel a game should end that way.”

Rays 3, Royals 2

a-grounded out for T.Beckham in the 8th.

E: Moustakas (10), Karns (1). LOB: Kansas City 6, Tampa Bay 7. HR: Guyer (6), off D.Duffy; Kiermaier (7), off Hochevar. RBIs: Zobrist (47), L.Cain (58), Guyer (24), J.Butler (24), Kiermaier (31). SB: L.Cain (26). CS: Orlando (3), Guyer (3).

Runners left in scoring position: Kansas City 3 (Moustakas 2, Hosmer); Tampa Bay 2 (T.Beckham, J.Butler). RISP: Kansas City 2 for 8; Tampa Bay 1 for 5. Runners moved up: Forsythe. GIDP: K.Morales. DP: Tampa Bay 1 (Loney, Rivera).

WP: Karns.

Holds: Colome (3). Umpires: Home, Clint Fagan; First, Alan Porter; Second, Jeff Kellogg; Third, Brian O’Nora. Time: 2:57. Att: 18,634.

This story was originally published August 30, 2015 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Umpire’s call irks Royals in 3-2 loss to the Rays in series finale."