Jarrod Dyson cracks first career grand slam, Royals storm back against Indians in 7-3 victory

In the moments after the most inexplicable hit of this Royals season — after a towering grand slam had soared through the humid July air, after a pint-sized center fielder had shook Kauffman Stadium with a thunderbolt into the right-field seats — Jarrod Dyson tossed his bat aside and stared toward the first-base dugout. For a moment, he locked eyes with Eric Hosmer, who greeted him with a smile and a full-body fist pump. Next to Hosmer stood Salvador Perez, who jumped in the air like a child.

For a baseball team scuffling around .500 and searching for a breakout, the eighth inning Monday night was a cathartic combination of joy, relief and pandemonium. The Royals stormed back from a two-run deficit and snatched a one-run lead. Dyson delivered the final blow against reliever Jeff Manship, his first career gland slam in a 7-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

“I knew it was gone,” Dyson said. “It felt good off the bat. That don't happen to me that often, so I got to take advantage.”

For years, Dyson has changed baseball games with his legs, a 50th-round pick known to all of Kansas City by a simple maxim: That’s what speed do. On Monday night, in front of a near sellout crowd of 38,042, Dyson punctuated a victory with his bat.

It was just the seventh career homer of Dyson’s seven-year career. More amazing: It was the Royals’ first extra-base hit with the bases loaded all season. Yes, all season. And it belonged to Dyson.

“He’s a little guy,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “But he’s a strong little guy.”

The grand slam capped a seventh-run explosion in the eighth inning. The rally came after an assist from Kansas City’s brutal July humidity. Before the bottom of the eighth inning, Indians ace Corey Kluber took the mound, ready to keep going. Moments later, he tapped out, felled by a leg cramp.

The Royals pounced on the opportunity. Christian Colon erased a 2-0 deficit with a two-run double to center field. Paulo Orlando offered a 3-2 lead with an RBI single to left field, scoring Alex Gordon from second base.

The Royals opened a nine-game home stand with a victory over the first-place Indians, moving to 47-45 on the season. If that record feels familiar, perhaps it should: Two years ago, the 2014 Royals had the same record after 92 games. You remember what happened next. They emerged from some midsummer doldrums, claimed an American League wild card spot and won the club’s first AL pennant in 29 years.

All that symmetry aside, the Royals required a couple of breaks on Monday night. After the first two batters reached in the eighth, Colon found himself pinch-hitting for designated hitter Kendrys Morales, who fouled a ball off his foot earlier in the game.

The Royals’ bench called for a bunt, but Indians reliever Bryan Shaw missed with the first two pitches. On the third pitch, Colon faked bunt and pulled it back, roping a double to deep center.

“We gotta play aggressive,” Colon said. “We gotta make things happen. That's what makes this ball club so good. We're aggressive. We don't play scared. It just worked out right there. I hit it good enough for it to get in the gap, and it wasn't right at them.”

Hours earlier, on Monday afternoon, the Royals arrived back at Kauffman Stadium for the first time in eight days, a span of time that encompassed the All-Star break, a stretch that tested the mettle of baseball’s defending champions. After losing two of three at Detroit — and eight of their last 11 overall — the Royals began Monday a full eight games behind first-place Cleveland and two games behind second-place Detroit. In the wild card standings, they looked up at three teams — Toronto, Houston and Detroit — all battling for the second spot behind Boston.

In the ultra-marathon grind of a baseball calendar, a season cannot be reduced to a week or even a month. But as the Royals convened for a nine-game home stand at Kauffman Stadium, the schedule offered a gut-check stretch — 10 days in July that could define the second half of this season.

On the first night, the Royals dug in against Kluber, the Indians ace. They were handcuffed and bedeviled for seven innings.

A week ago, Kluber journeyed to San Diego for his first All-Star Game, an alternate selected by Yost after an injury to Toronto starter Marco Estrada. Yost cited a number of advanced metrics in making the selection, calling Kluber one of the best pitchers in the game. On Monday, he displayed his prowess. For seven innings, he kept the Royals off balance with a diet of 94 mph sinkers and biting off-speed stuff. He buckled down when the Royals threatened, stranding six base-runners in the opening six innings.

As the Royals offense slogged onward, the Indians nicked Royals starter Edinson Volquez for two runs in seven innings. The first came via a no-doubt homer from shortstop Francisco Lindor in the top of the first inning. The second came on an opportunistic rally in the fourth.

The Indians stretched the lead to 2-0 on a walk, a bloop single and a soft grounder to third base. Volquez chugged and sweated for three more innings, departing after throwing 112 pitches on a humid night in July.

In the end, Volquez’s performance was a footnote. It also proved immense.

“Eddie was fantastic,” Yost said.

For another night, the Royals engineered a dramatic comeback in their home park, a phenomenon that has rarely happened on the road. For weeks, Yost has pondered the strangeness of this.

All year, the Royals have come up clutch at home. All year, they have come up empty-handed on the road. On Monday, there was more of the same. The offense heated up in the eighth inning. Dyson punctuated an emotional comeback.

“I’ve talked to everybody,” Yost said. “What’s the difference? What are we doing? Why?’ There’s just no real astute answer that I can give you why. It just … it is.”

A moment later, as his postgame news conference came to a close, Yost looked forward, toward a row of cameras in the back of the room.

“I wish I could figure it out,” he said. “And if anybody out there in TV land can figure it out, give me a call.”

Royals 7, Indians 3

LOB: Cleveland 6, Kansas City 6. 2B: Napoli (15), Chisenhall (12), Cuthbert (11), Colon (3). 3B: Dyson (2). HR: Lindor (11), off Volquez; Dyson (1), off Manship. RBIs: Lindor (47), Uribe 2 (24), Orlando (20), Dyson 4 (14), Colon 2 (8). SB: Gordon (4). CS: Dyson (4).

Runners left in scoring position: Cleveland 5 (Lindor, Chisenhall, Naquin, Almonte 2); Kansas City 3 (Morales, S.Perez 2). RISP: Cleveland 0 for 9; Kansas City 3 for 6. Runners moved up: Uribe 2. GIDP: Kipnis, Lindor, Orlando. DP: Cleveland 1 (Lindor, Kipnis, Napoli); Kansas City 2 (Escobar, Merrifield, Hosmer), (Hochevar, Escobar, Hosmer).

Inherited runners-scored: Manship 2-2, Davis 2-0. HBP: Kluber (Morales). Umpires: Home, Jeff Nelson; First, Doug Eddings; Second, Ryan Blakney; Third, Cory Blaser. T: 2:51. A: 38,042.

This story was originally published July 18, 2016 at 10:41 PM with the headline "Jarrod Dyson cracks first career grand slam, Royals storm back against Indians in 7-3 victory."