Jarrod Dyson and the bullpen spark Royals in 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins

In the moments after the catch, after Jarrod Dyson had covered 98 feet and sprinted 19.8 mph and scaled a center-field wall with a last-second lunge and leap, there was only an outfielder and a face of stone.

On the mound, Edinson Volquez wore an incredulous expression and pulled his hands above his head. In the dugout, a line of professional baseball players guffawed, almost too stunned to tip their caps.

“I wasn’t sure if he caught it,” Royals manager Ned Yost would say.

And then there was Dyson, the 32-year-old speed freak and former 50th-round pick, jogging casually through the center-field grass, scooting back to the dugout after the finest catch of his life. As he jogged, his facial expression remained frozen, a seems-about-right nonchalantness covering his face.

“I made a play,” Dyson said.

It was the bottom of the first inning on Thursday night. Dyson had tracked back to the center-field wall and snatched a homer from Miami left fielder Christian Yelich, who had hammered a baseball 414 feet to center field. Perhaps, a moment in the first inning cannot decide a baseball game. But Dyson’s leaping grab offered an early jolt of energy — one that persisted as the Royals topped the Marlins 5-2 and claimed their sixth straight series victory.

When Dyson returned to the dugout, Volquez offered a thank you that can not be printed in a family newspaper. Dyson finally cracked a smile. A teammate called out amidst the noise: “Boy, you look like a young Griff,” comparing the catch to the iconic grabs of Ken Griffey Jr.

“Off the bat, I thought I was burnt,” Dyson said. “I had no shot. But as I kept running, I got closer. I was like, ‘Yeah, I got a chance.’ ”

In the eight innings after Dyson’s grab, the Royals pressed a foot to the accelerator. Shortstop Alcides Escobar finished 2 for 4 with two RBIs and his third homer of the season. The bullpen pieced together four scoreless innings, stretching its franchise-record streak to 38  2/3 scoreless innings. The defense offered a glimpse of its mastery — save for two errant throws from third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert.

When the night was over, the Royals had won for the 15th time in 18 games and climbed to 66-61, just four games behind Baltimore, 70-57, in the hunt for the second American League wild-card spot. They also pulled to within 6  1/2 games of first-place Cleveland, which lost its third straight game. A club that once appeared tired and worn down during a dreary has caught a second wind.

The road trip will now swing to Boston, where Kansas City will open a somewhat mammoth three-game series against the Red Sox on Friday night. The Red Sox, at 71-56, remain in the thick of the playoff picture, still in the hunt for the American League East championship. The Royals still have little margin for error.

“Don’t change anything,” said Volquez, who improved to 10-10 after allowing two unearned runs in five innings. “Whatever (we’ve done here), we got to carry over there to Boston and do the same. We don’t have to change anything. We got to throw the ball over the plate and make some defensive plays.”

On Thursday, buoyed by Dyson’s glove work, Kansas City built a 2-0 lead in the early innings against Miami starter Tom Koehler. Salvador Perez ripped an RBI double to left field in the third. Escobar provided a solo homer in the fourth, jumping on a slider and powering it 397 feet to left-center. It was his first road homer since Aug. 21, 2015 at Boston. It landed just left of the garish sculpture that towers above the playing surface here at Marlins Park.

Miami would strike back against Volquez in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs and runners at second and third, Xavier Scruggs smashed a hard grounder to the left of Cuthbert, who made a tremendous diving stop. For a moment, it appeared as if Volquez would escape the jam. But Cuthbert threw wild of first and two runs scored, tying the game at 2-2.

Two innings later, Escobar broke the tie with an RBI double to left field. The Royals added another run when pinch-hitter Kendrys Morales hit a towering sacrifice fly to center field. The move ended Volquez’s night after five innings. But the Royals’ bullpen was ready to take over.

“Five and dive,” Volquez said, breaking into a smile.

Rookie Matt Strahm lowered his ERA to 0.84 in 10  2/3 innings, escaping a bases-loaded jam in the sixth before throwing a scoreless frame in the seventh. The high-leverage situation had surfaced after right-hander Chris Young loaded the bases while recording two outs in the sixth. Strahm calmly coaxed a ground-out from Dee Gordon before striking out two batters in the seventh.

Joakim Soria worked around two base runners in the eighth, completing his 10th straight scoreless appearance. Kelvin Herrera notched another save in the ninth. And then there is this: The Royals bullpen still hasn’t allowed a run since Chien-Ming Wang allowed a single run in the 11th inning of an eventual victory over the Chicago White Sox on Aug. 10.

“The bullpen was phenomenal,” Yost said of Thursday’s performance. “Strahm probably gets the gold star.”

In the moments after the game, as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” blared from a clubhouse speaker, Dyson’s pushed through the room. His play was being replayed on an MLB Network highlight show, and Dyson looked up at a TV monitor.

“I think that’s the first one I’ve ever robbed in my career,” Dyson said.

A few moments later, a reporter told Dyson that his MLB’s Statcast technology had clocked his top speed at 19.8 mph.

“I’m getting slow then,” Dyson said. “I’m normally at 20, 21.”

For the next minute, Dyson pondered whether the grab had been the best catch of his career. Well, he said, there was one in Boston once, and in the end, it didn’t really matter. This catch will be shown for years. The play saved a run. The Royals scored another road victory.

“We’ll take the win,” he said. “Winning this series is real big going into Boston, so we got to keep it up.”

Royals 5, Marlins 2

This story was originally published August 25, 2016 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Jarrod Dyson and the bullpen spark Royals in 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins."