A 2015 flashback: Stories, photos, pages from Royals’ ALDS Game 2 victory over Astros

Five years ago this fall, the Kansas City Royals won their second World Series championship.

Fox Sports Kansas City is re-airing the Royals’ 11 victories from that postseason starting with Game 2 of the ALDS at 7 p.m. Monday, May 4.

To help you relive the moments from that magical October, we’ve dug into our archives.

(We’ve also asked our columnists, Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian, to recall what they remember from those games. Read their memories of Game 2 here.)

Below are original stories, front pages and photos that appeared in the Oct. 10, 2015 editions of The Kansas City Star, the day after the Royals beat Houston 5-4 and tied their best-of-five American League Division Series at 1-1:

Hosmer shines as KC comes from behind, 5-4

By the time Eric Hosmer stands in front of his locker, the moment has already been put on the Internet. He lived the moment, changed what sure felt like a critical playoff game with the moment, but he has not yet seen the moment until an iPhone is put in front of him. Press play. Hosmer is already laughing.

The pitch is a slider — another slider — and Hosmer is beat. Absolutely beat.

This pitch is way off the plate, but Hosmer is expecting a fastball, so by the time he recognizes the break it’s too late. He goes into what hitters call the emergency hack, with his rear end jetting back, shoulders lunging over the plate and those long arms throwing the head of the bat toward the ball. At the point of contact, Hosmer looks like he’s sitting on a toilet. It’s quite a scene.

“It was in our dugout,” Mike Moustakas says of Hosmer’s rear end.

Hosmer is fooled so badly on the pitch that the bat may never have even crossed the plate. But he does make contact, and the gods have kissed this baseball because it lands softly in the outfield. A run scores. The air at Kauffman Stadium explodes with joy.

The Royals will go on to beat the Astros 5-4. The American League Division Series is tied at one game each. After it is over, Alex Rios and Alcides Escobar will remember Hosmer’s butt-out bloop as the single moment that did the most to instill confidence. Luck, finally, is back on the Royals’ side.

“Oh my goodness,” Royals outfielder Jarrod Dyson would say. “Momentum, man. Momentum.”

Perez’s pitch is measured more than nine inches off the plate, and about a foot and a half off the ground. Because we can know everything in baseball now, the wonderful baseballsavant.com tells us only 20 pitches that far from the center of the strike zone turned into hits this year.

Hosmer is watching this on the phone, after living it in the batter’s box, and the whole thing is making him laugh.

“I guess (Jeff Francoeur) had a big impact on me my rookie season,” he jokes. “I have no idea. That’s all I’ve got.”

Hosmer can have fun now. The Royals won. The series is even. They were somewhat flat in the opener, falling behind early and never making a serious threat. Game 2 was headed in the same direction — Johnny Cueto gave up four runs and eight baserunners in the first three innings — before Hosmer’s hit keyed a rally that tied the score in the sixth.

In the seventh, Alcides Escobar tripled and scored on a single by Ben Zobrist and the bullpen locked down the win. Phew.

Nobody said this out loud, and it’s baseball, so anything can happen, but if they went to Houston with an elimination game against presumptive Cy Young winner Dallas Keuchel, the only people thinking the Royals could still win the series would be the players and their children.

“A little bit, yeah,” Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain said when asked if he was starting to get worried. “A little bit.”

Hosmer’s bloop was lucky, but there was some skill involved here, too. He won’t say that, other than to mention it goes with the team’s style of avoiding strikeouts and putting the ball in play. Every other team in baseball struck out at least 100 times more than these Royals.

But this was not entirely luck. Not by a long shot. Big-league hitters will sometimes mention that part of what separates the good ones is what they do when they’re fooled. Watching the replay of Hosmer’s hit, Rios was reminded of Vladimir Guerrero.

It takes a special combination of balance, agility, length, quick hands and quicker reaction to be so wrong on a pitch but still punch it to the outfield. Hosmer’s legs flew backward, his torso forward, and the ability to maintain control of the bat through all that movement is rare, even among big leaguers.

“At that point,” Royals pitcher Chris Young said, “it’s not as much about form as function.”

Hosmer takes this stuff personally. The Royals took him with the third overall pick in the 2008 draft, technically the second under general manager Dayton Moore’s watch.

He was a phenom from the beginning, bullying his way to the big leagues before the organization had planned because he was hitting .439 as a 21-year-old in Class AAA.

His first night in the big leagues, Hosmer faced the toughest lefty he’d seen in his life to that point — Gio Gonzalez made the All-Star team that season and the next — and he took a walk. His calm was obvious. The expectations were huge.

Hosmer had his struggles, of course. He hit .232 in his second season, and the occasional struggles of Hosmer and some of the other young players made the team’s hitting coach a temporary position for a while.

But he is now very much at the core of what the defending American League champions do and hope to do. His face was on the Sports Illustrated cover last fall, mid bat flip.

It wasn’t by coincidence that Hosmer was the one inviting Kansas City to the bar last year, and it’s not by accident that you see him answering questions after every game, win or lose, always saying the right thing.

“We feed off the energy the crowd gives us,” he said after this game. “We love playing here. That’s important to us.”

Hosmer’s moment was symbolic in another way, too. The night before, the Royals didn’t help themselves, but they also ran into some bad breaks. Their line drives went into the Astros’ gloves. The Astros’ bloops landed on the outfield grass. It was, in many ways, the exact opposite of the Royals’ run to last year’s World Series.

Hosmer’s bloop ended all of that. He was beat, but he ended up winning anyway. It was the softest ball he hit all day, and his teammates think it was the most important ball any of them hit all day.

Jonny Gomes’ locker is near Moustakas’, and in the happy chaos of the winning clubhouse, he stood off to the side in a towel as a herd of reporters went through their questions.

He had a moment to kill, so he watched the video of Hosmer’s hit, heard the stat about how rare it was for a pitch that far off the plate to be turned into a hit, and shook his head.

“I’ve probably had zero hits on that,” he said. “I always say this. When the playoffs start, take the numbers out, truly, because you’re going to see something you’ve never seen. Something that hasn’t happened that year. You’ll see guys who are .090 against lefties, and then they hit two (expletive) homers.

“It’s just all about having a dude touch the dish. However possible.”

Late-season pickup Zobrist helps Royals draw even

This was the day, or at least one of the few, for which the Royals surrendered a chunk of their potential future for pitcher Johnny Cueto.

No, the Royals weren’t facing a “death sentence” if they lost to Houston on Friday at Kauffman Stadium, as manager Ned Yost had put it.

Then again, choose your over-the-top sports metaphor for what a loss would have meant: Only five of 47 teams that stumbled into an 0-2 ravine in Major League Baseball’s Division Series have managed to climb back to win those.

So it essentially was fight or flight for the Royals, especially with them facing bleak odds against Houston’s Dallas Keuchel for Game 3 Sunday in Houston — where Keuchel is 15-0 this season.

And the baffling Cueto, even accounting for some bad luck, couldn’t meet the moment.

Then along came Ben Zobrist, the understated undercard of Dayton Moore’s midseason maneuvering, the acquisition that seemed almost like a luxury when the Royals reeled him in shortly after the Cueto deal was perceived as making them whole.

The no-frills opposite of the shimmying, dreadlocked Cueto delivered the game-winning RBI in a 5-4 victory by driving home Alcides Escobar with an opposite-field single in the seventh inning.

With that, Zobrist reminded that he has been the most crucial addition the Royals made since spring training.

Just don’t tell Zobrist that.

“I don’t know about that; it’s a team game,” he said. “I’ve been brought in here to help the club win, and I was fortunate to be able to help the team win today.

“And that’s the bottom line.”

It is, and one towards which Zobrist is contributing while Cueto sputters.

The workmanlike at-bat reflected the sturdiness Zobrist has added on the field and in the clubhouse — contributions befitting his versatility as a switch hitter who can play about anywhere but behind the plate or on the mound.

“Nothing fancy, man,” outfielder Jarrod Dyson said. “That guy just comes and gets it done.”

In what passes for razzle-dazzle from Zobrist, he pumped his arm as he started sprinting to first after the ball left his bat and found a gap in the Astro-physics of shifting.

“I wasn’t necessarily trying to hit that hole,” he said, smiling. “It just happened.”

If it all looks smooth now for Zobrist, 34, it was a long time coming.

That accounts for his trademark adaptability, which wasn’t his choice.

As he struggled at shortstop and the plate for Tampa Bay in 2006 and 2007, he was told his best shot in 2008 would be to bring multiple gloves to spring training.

The utilityman identity ended up taking, and he soon gained traction and grew as a hitter.

Part of his growth was in the 2008 playoffs, the first of five times he’s been in the postseason.

What he called “a deer in headlights” feeling then has evolved over time.

“Once you’ve been there a little bit, you settle down and you just want to get the job done,” he said. “You’ve got to stay in the moment, can’t get too far ahead or think about what happened yesterday or even the pitch before.

“You’ve got to focus on staying in the present.”

Speaking of which, Zobrist became a Royal because of Moore’s sense of the preciousness of the present.

The Royals had been snooping around Zobrist even before Alex Gordon suffered a groin injury, but Gordon’s absence and ongoing questions about Alex Rios in right and Omar Infante at second made him irresistible for the October push.

So they yielded two pitching prospects to get him from Oakland, and Zobrist’s impact was evident almost immediately when days later he homered from both sides of the plate at Toronto.

“What he brings to the team is a lot more than you guys see out on the field,” third baseman Mike Moustakas said, “and he does a lot out on that field for us.”

That includes exuding a certain calm and professionalism, Moustakas added, by simply going about his work the right way every day.

His preparation has been helped, Zobrist added, by knowing that for the foreseeable future he’s playing second base, where he took over for the injured Infante and started 33 times in the regular season.

“So it’s enabled me to focus,” he said, “just on my work at second.”

Work, as it’s happened, that has been not a luxury but a necessity for the Royals.

Shift for the better: Alcides Escobar takes advantage of Astros’ outfield positioning with a triple

The baseball hung in the sky for a lifetime, floating like a horsehide-covered offering to the Baseball Gods who had been so cruel to the Royals for the first 15 innings of the American League Division Series.

Ned Yost often jokes about the talismanic powers of Alcides Escobar as the Royals’ leadoff hitter, but in the seventh inning of a series-tying, stress-reducing, mojo-restoring 5-4 victory over the Astros, the Royals experienced a genuine bit of magic.

“I’m not sure what happened,” center fielder Lorenzo Cain said. “I’m just happy it fell.”

A two-run deficit erased and a must-win game tied heading into the final innings, Escobar pounced on a first-pitch cutter from Astros reliever Will Harris. His drive drifted into a Bermuda Triangle between center fielder Jake Marisnick and right fielder George Springer. The two fleet-footed defenders sprinted through bits of sun and shadow, only to watch the baseball land in the grass of Kauffman Stadium.

Escobar sprinted all the way to third, a “game-changing play,” third baseman Mike Moustakas said. The triple sent the crowd, unnerved by a Game 1 defeat and wounded by Johnny Cueto’s dispiriting start earlier in the day, into hysterics. A go-ahead single by Ben Zobrist only heightened the volume.

Zobrist pumped his fist as he ran to first base, an exhortation to his teammates and a reminder to his opponents: Houston, we have a series.

“Down 0-1 in a series, we’re not panicking or anything,” Moustakas said. “We’re going to go out there and try to find a way to win. And we did that today.”

This best-of-five series is now knotted at 1-1. The Royals avoided the pressure of heading to Houston in need of a three-game sweep. The hitters exhibited patience and restraint. They built rallies based on walks and opposite-field hits.

Cueto survived a rocky opening to throw six innings of four-run baseball. Cueto did not resemble an ace, but he kept his club within range. And his teammates eventually broke through against the Houston bullpen, with a two-run rally in the sixth. Salvador Perez hit a solo homer in the second and collected a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to tie the game.

The timing of the victory allows the Royals to exhale on their flight to Texas. A monster lurks around the corner, ready for Game 3 on Sunday, in the form of Astros southpaw Dallas Keuchel, the potential American League Cy Young Award winner. Keuchel tortured hitters inside Minute Maid Park this season. He posted a 15-0 record with a 1.46 ERA.

Keuchel performs like the sort of pitcher the Royals thought they acquired on July 26. Kansas City handed three prospects, including 2014 first-round pick Brandon Finnegan, to Cincinnati for Cueto. Some scouts viewed him as an ace, others described him as a No. 2 starter — either item represented an upgrade for the Royals’ shaky rotation.

The Royals intended for Cueto to start Game 1 on Thursday. He declined, citing no interest in pitching on short rest. Even so, he promised a new day would dawn in October.

“That season is over,” said catching coach Pedro Grifol, who translated for Cueto, on Thursday afternoon. “This is a new season. You’ll get to see the real Johnny Cueto.”

The purported savior traipsed into the clubhouse at 12:48 p.m., 1 hour and 59 minutes before he would throw the game’s first pitch. He carried a travel bag and a collection of collared shirts on hangers, gear for the trip to Houston. For Cueto, the arrival time was not far from his norm.

Cueto bounded out of the dugout at 2:12 p.m. and jogged into center field. He tapped his feet in a carioca drill, pumped high knees and kicked his legs in front.

“Today’s one of those games where a guy like Johnny Cueto earns his name,” Hosmer said before the game. “We need him to step up for us today.”

Cueto could not deliver. He retired second baseman Jose Altuve with the game’s first pitch, but walked Springer. Two batters later, Colby Rasmus fished for an ankle-high change-up. He walloped an RBI double over Alex Rios’ head in right field.

The second inning vexed Cueto with bad luck. His third pitch of the inning shattered the bat of first baseman Chris Carter. A single still fell in left field. Cueto picked up two strikes on catcher Jason Castro, then found himself at the mercy of umpire Angel Hernandez.

At 0-2, Cueto fired a high cutter in search of the outside corner. Hernandez deemed it a ball. He did the same with a fastball low and away. Cueto missed with four consecutive fastballs and cutters. Castro took first base.

Up came Marisnick. He tried to sacrifice himself with a bunt. The Royals would not oblige. Moustakas scooped up the ball as Escobar raced to cover him at the third-base bag. Cueto pointed toward third, which caused Moustakas to turn and see there was no play. By the time he threw to first, Marisnick was safe.

With two on, Cueto busted Springer inside with a 93-mph fastball. Springer still floated a two-run single into left.

“In the beginning, he didn’t feel as strong,” Grifol said. “But then he was able to settle down and locate. And obviously, some of the balls that they hit, fell.”

The Royals shaved a run off the deficit in the bottom of the second. Perez detonated a belt-high cutter from Astros starter Scott Kazmir. Perez parked the solo blast in the Royals’ bullpen in left field.

The crowd did not have long to enjoy the moment. In the next inning, Cueto served up a solo homer to Rasmus. This time, Rasmus pulled a waist-high fastball over the right-field fence.

The Astros handed the two-run lead back to Kazmir.

Kazmir reached the sixth inning in firm control of the game. But Cain sent him to the showers with a one-out double.

“To get the rally started with the double there was huge,” Cain said. “Once we got him out, I feel like we were able to score a few runs.”

Houston manager A.J. Hinch called upon lefty specialist Oliver Perez, who bested Hosmer in a crucial spot on Thursday. Hosmer flailed at a pair of sliders in the opposite batter’s box to start their second encounter. When Perez tried a third slider, Hosmer pulled off an emergency hack, flaring an RBI single into left.

Frustrated by the Astros defensive shifts the night before, the Royals benefited from then in the sixth. Kendrys Morales rolled a grounder toward the right of second base, where Altuve no longer stood. Moustakas loaded the bases with a walk.

Oliver Perez exited the contest, but Hinch could not find a reliever capable of throwing strikes. Josh Fields, the next man up, walked Salvador Perez on four pitches, tying the game. Perez walked only 13 times in the regular season.

“It was huge, at that point,” Yost said. “Tied the ballgame up.”

An inning later, Escobar led off the seventh. Magic would soon follow. Escobar noted how shallow the opposing outfielders set up. The positioning of the Astros confused him, as he explained during a postgame news conference.

“Those guys, they always play like that in the regular season, they play too shallow in the outfield,” Escobar said. “Everybody is moving — second base, he’s playing right behind the base. It’s crazy. I don’t know why those guys do that.”

Seated next to him, Perez offered a coda: “Good for us,” he said.

The Royals did not show panic in the aftermath of Game 1. During the proceedings of Game 2, the players demonstrated the pluck and talent that carried them to the best record in the American League. A restorative victory allowed the group a chance to exhale.

“Championship teams win those types of games right there,” Hosmer said.

Finally, a Royal rally!: With backs against wall, KC puts together three hits and two walks in two-run sixth

For 14 postseason innings, fans at Kauffman Stadium rarely got to wave their rally towels.

Solo home runs and a double-play grounder had produced the Royals’ four runs to that point. Those weren’t enough to prevent an Astros victory in the first game of the American League Division Series and a two-run lead headed into the sixth inning of the second game.

But the towels remained a constant presence throughout the sixth, and a long-awaited rally sent the Royals to a 5-4 victory on Friday, evening the series 1-1 after two games.

With one out, the Royals strung together three hits and two walks to produce the two runs that tied the game. They finally had their first multirun inning of the postseason.

“If we get something brewing offensively and the towels get to waving, the energy and momentum falls in our favor,” first baseman Eric Hosmer said.

The assembly-line production continued in the seventh, when Ben Zobrist’s single scored Alcides Escobar, who had tripled.

The Royals had rallied in a familiar way, using a formula that has been so successful in the franchise’s last two playoff seasons.

Home runs are terrific. But this season the Royals finished 24th in baseball in home runs and seventh in runs scored because they bunched hits rather than blasting them.

“I kept waiting somewhere in the game to get something started because I knew the crowd would get really involved,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Perhaps rattling the pitcher in the process, and that seemed to happen as three Astros pitchers were touched in the sixth.

“Rallies put more stress on the opposing pitcher,” Hosmer said. “It’s hard to try to lock in and throw a strike.”

The rally started with Lorenzo Cain’s opposite-field double.

“We needed to get something started,” Cain said. “Then have others step up.”

Hosmer followed and quickly fell into a 0-2 hole, swinging at Oliver Perez’s second pitch far out of the strike zone. On a third pitch sliding away from him, Hosmer stuck out his bat and dropped his first hit of the series to left field, an RBI single that sliced the Astros’ advantage to one run, 4-3.

Designated hitter Kendrys Morales, who belted two solo home runs on Thursday, stood in on the right side against the left-handed Perez, who thought he had coaxed a double-play grounder to second. But when Perez turned around, he saw the ball bounce to the outfield grass.

“He saw a huge hole there,” said catcher Francisco Pena, interpreting for Morales. “He didn’t try to do too much, just tried to hit a ground ball to that side.”

Hosmer reached third. Mike Moustakas walked, loading the bases, and Salvador Perez stepped in against Josh Fields. Perez had walked 13 times in 553 regular-season plate appearances and had knocked a solo home run earlier in the game.

But none of Fields’ four pitches was close, and Perez walked to first as Hosmer walked home as the tying run.

The Royals’ sixth-inning fun ended there as Fields struck out Alex Gordon and Alex Rios, but more than halfway through the second game, the Royals had broken through with a rally.

“The offense finally got on track,” Yost said. “The offense took advantage of the opportunities when we had them and found a way to win a game.”