Royals leave Davis in pen, Bautista slugs homer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With the World Series on the line and Toronto’s best hitters coming up, Royals manager Ned Yost stuck to his bullpen formula and got burned.
Five outs from the AL pennant and victory in Game 6 of the ALCS on Friday night, Toronto’s Jose Bautista hit a tying two-run homer to left against setup man Ryan Madson to keep the Blue Jays chirping. Meanwhile, closer Wade Davis — the team’s best pitcher and perhaps the best pitcher in Major League Baseball in short relief — was standing on the rubber in the home bullpen at Kauffman Stadium, waiting to come in.
To possibly make matters worse for the Royals, not long after the Jays tied the score and Yost went to the bullpen to fetch Davis and get Madson out of a jam, clouds opened up and rain delayed the game for 45 minutes.
During the delay, Yost explained his thinking to Fox Sports reporter Erin Andrews. The Royals crew had warned of the coming rain, and it factored into his moves:
“This is what I was kind of hoping to stay away from, getting Wade in the ballgame and then raining,” Yost said. “But, you know, it was at a point where we had to do it, so Wade will come in.”
Even beyond the point, with Toronto already having come back to tie the score. Yost was hopeful that Davis could pitch another inning.
“We’ll see how long it takes,” Yost said of the delay. “He’s upstairs staying loose. He’s got a heat wrap on his arm in the weight room staying loose.”
Without the coming storm, perhaps Yost would have brought in Davis to face the top of Toronto’s lineup.
Davis had not pitched for six days, since Game 2 during the first leg of the series at Kauffman, and should have been good to go for up to two innings. It wasn’t typical for Davis to go more than inning during the regular season, when he posted an 0.94 ERA and 78 strikeouts in 67 1/3 innings, but Yost had used him for two innings against Houston in Game 4 of the ALDS on Oct. 12.
Should have been Wade’s deal, Ryan. (USATSI)
Not having pitched in four years because of injuries, Madson was strong as a setup man during the regular season, so much that he hopped past Kelvin Herrera in the bullpen depth chart, going from middle-man curiosity at the start of the season to depended-upon eighth-inning guy by the end. Still, he was no Davis, and ran into trouble against the top of the Blue Jays order in the eighth with the Royals ahead 3-1.
Ben Revere led off with an infield single, but Josh Donaldson was caught looking for strike three, bringing up Bautista, who killed an 0-1 pitch to left for a homer inside of the foul pole to tie the score 3-all.
Edwin Encarnacion drew a walk, and Yost finally put in Davis, who retired Chris Colabello on a pop-up and Troy Tulowitzki on a strikeout.
Then, out came the tarp.
Jose Bautista ties the score with a two-run homer. (USATSI)
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