Can the Royals sustain their recent hot streak? These numbers say it’s possible
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- The Royals swept the Mariners in Seattle, their first sweep there since July 3-5, 2017.
- Royals starters have pitched five or more innings in 12 consecutive games.
- The Royals are 7-3 in their last 10 games and finished the road trip 4-2.
It’s been a while since the Kansas City Royals swept the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. You would have to flip the calendar back to July 3-5, 2017.
To put that in perspective, Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. would’ve just completed his sophomore year of high school. And his team captain, Salvador Perez, was putting the finishing touches on his fifth All-Star campaign.
There are a lot of similarities between the 2017 Royals and the current iteration. Both teams had a disappointing April — the 2017 team finished the month 7-16 — and began to find their footing in May.
This season, the Royals were 10-17 in April and sank to the bottom of the American League Central.
Yet, both squads displayed grit and determination. And Perez, alongside Matt Strahm, were constants that link the teams together.
On Sunday, Perez led the way in Seattle. In the fourth inning, he raced home on a shallow sacrifice fly off the bat of teammate Isaac Collins. It was a close play at the plate as Perez slid in ahead of the tag.
Perez was initially called out, but the Royals challenged the call. Replay showed Perez scored just ahead of the tag.
The Royals took a 3-1 lead and held on to win. And the series sweep highlighted a main takeaway: The Royals are finally playing complementary baseball.
“Hopefully we continue to play the way we did here the last three games,” Perez said. “It’s pretty good. You guys know the goals that we have. So again, a really good team like Seattle, (we) got three wins — that’s amazing.”
In the series, the Royals relied on multiple contributors. Jac Caglianone and Vinnie Pasquantino hit key solo homers on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Royals had savvy baserunning from Lane Thomas and Michael Massey on Saturday.
The pitching was also strong. The Royals had strong starts from Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Kris Bubic.
And here’s a notable stat: Royals starters have gone five or more innings in their last 12 consecutive games. It’s the longest such streak in Major League Baseball this season.
The Royals also have 17 quality starts, which is a big reason why the bullpen has turned it around: The starters going deeper in games has kept the relievers fresh and available.
Closer Lucas Erceg benefited with a pair of saves in the series.
Erceg’s colorful language on the Royals.TV telecast told the story. The Royals are brimming with confidence and reveling in a fresh start this May.
“There’s a lot of things we can take, you know, positively from those games we did lose,” Bubic said. “And now it’s about putting those together for a full nine innings. And for us, that’s always the goal every night. And it’s not going to be perfect every night. We know we aren’t going to sweep everybody we play. But for us, putting together a full nine innings kind of sees the complete team we are capable of being.”
The Royals are 7-3 in their last 10 games. The offense has continued to shine in clutch situations, and it’s been backed by a resilient approach.
The club is finding ways to win, an attitude that starts with Perez and trickles down from there.
Now, it could be the fuel the Royals need to vault up the AL Central standings.
“I mean, that’s outstanding,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Sunday’s victory. “Trying to win every game, and we know how hard that is. To come in here, to a place that’s tough to play, against a really good team is really rewarding.”
The Royals made the long flight back to Kansas City on Sunday night. It was sure to be a celebratory plan ride as the club finished the road trip 4-2.
However, important games are ahead. The next week could set the tone for the coming months, as the Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers come to Kauffman Stadium.
“We’ve got a big homestand coming up,” Collins said. “So yeah, we are just going to keep up with this momentum and be ready to play.”
