ALCS, Game One: Inning by inning recap

1st

inning

A bright beginning

Alcides Escobar saw the light, but it wasn’t a good thing. The TBS in-stadium studio at Camden Yards had a light shining straight at the plate, so there was a brief delay as everyone waited for someone to turn the switch off. That was the highlight of the first inning, other than Lorenzo Cain’s infield dribbler that turned into a single. That came with two outs and Cain was stranded.

2nd

Alternating works for Shields

Despite leading off the inning with a single, Billy Butler didn’t flash his playoff speed (he has one more postseason stolen base than Ernie Banks, you know). In the bottom of the inning, Nelson Cruz singled (that’s bad). Then Steve Pearce lined out (that’s good). J.J. Hardy singled (bad), Ryan Flaherty struck out (good), Nick Hundley reached on an infield single (bad), but Jonathan Schoop popped out, ending the threat, which was good for the Royals.

3rd

Four score for the Royals

Escobar hit a one-out home run. Wait, what? No, that really happened. Escobar hit his fourth home run of the season. Orioles starter Chris Tillman soon found himself in a peck of trouble as the Royals loaded the bases with two outs. Alex Gordon then broke his bat and dumped a double down the right-field line that cleared the bases with Butler scoring from first. Baltimore got a run back on Adam Jones’ single that scored Nick Markakis.

4th

A quiet inning

Omar Infante opened the inning with a walk, but there he remained as the next three Royals batters were retired in order. It wasn’t quite a carbon copy in the bottom half of the inning, but Ryan Flaherty singled with one out (and that out was a long fly to Gordon in left field). Baltimore never got him to second base, however, and both teams stranded a runner in the inning.

5th

It’s a new game

The Royals scored in the top of the inning as Cain doubled, took third on a ground-out and scored on Butler’s sacrifice fly. Baltimore roughed up Shields in their half. He allowed consecutive singles opening the inning. After an out, Nelson Cruz doubled off the left-field wall to bring home a run. After a walk, Shields struck out Hardy on a 3-2 pitch. Out of danger? Nope. Flaherty singled home two, and the Orioles were within a run. Hopes of a breezy opener were gone that quickly.

6th

A weird inning

Brandon Finnegan entered the game for the Royals and walked Schoop. Never good to give a free pass to the first batter. Markakis followed with a single. Alejandro De Aza squared to bunt and took a pitch as Schoop ventured far off second. Because he was certain to be out if he returned to second, Schoop took off for third, but Escobar’s throw hit him in the back. De Aza then hit a 73 1/2-foot blooper over the mound and Schoop scored. On came Kelvin Herrera, who got a fielder’s choice and a double play to avoid bigger danger.

7th

When push comes to shove

Nori Aoki led off with a walk, and ... well see the sixth-inning comment. Jarrod Dyson came on as a pinch runner and, after nearly getting picked off, appeared to steal second. However, Schoop used a push-tag and Dyson’s foot slipped off the bag. That ended the threat. Cain and Butler then struck out on calls that were questioned by 99.8 percent of Royals fans on Twitter. Herrera came back out and made quick work of the Orioles, getting two strikeouts.

8th

Very good pitching, except one pitch

Scary moment when leadoff hitter Gordon was hit in the shoulder and the ball appeared to skip up and off Gordon’s helmet. He stayed in the game, but the Orioles’ Andrew Miller showed why the Orioles’ bullpen is also regarded as one of the best in baseball. Perez struck out, Infante popped out and Moustakas struck out. Wade Davis is also a very good pitcher. He needed just seven pitches to retire the Orioles in order.

9th

How did they not score??

Orioles closer Zach Britton opened the inning with a 1-2 count on Escobar. He then threw 12 straight balls. That filled the bases on three straight walks. But Hosmer grounded into a force-out at the plate, and Butler hit into an inning-ending double play. Momentum seemed to be on the Orioles’ side. However, Davis retired Baltimore’s 2-3-4 hitters on just 11 pitches. So it was off to extra innings again.

10th

Two big swings

Gordon opened the inning by crushing a shot to right field off Darren O’Day as the Royals flashed more of that extra-inning magic in the playoffs. Perez followed with a walk, and after an out, Brian Matusz came on for a lefty-lefty matchup with Moustakas. Moose mangled that plan as he connected on a homer that removed any doubt about the outcome. Greg Holland allowed a run, but it didn’t matter.

This story was originally published October 11, 2014 at 12:49 AM with the headline "ALCS, Game One: Inning by inning recap."