Watch out! The Royals are starting to look like the Royals again
The Kansas City Royals had one of those wins Tuesday night. One of those wins that looked like last postseason when they won the World Series. One of those wins that reminds you how good and how dangerous they can be — and how you can never count them out.
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Down 2-1 in the seventh, Salvador Perez cranked a two-run homer that gave the Royals an eventual 3-2 win over the Cleveland Indians. You might be thinking: It’s one game in June, so what? Maybe that’s true. But these Royals were looking up at the Indians in the standings, that’s not a common thing for the two-time defending AL champs. It was their second straight win against the Indians and fourth overall. Now the Royals are just a game behind the Indians for first place.
The Royals go for the sweep — and to tie with the Indians in the AL Central — on Wednesday night. You can see how it plays out live on Yahoo Sports. It’s our MLB Free Game of the Day and you can stream it free on Yahoo’s Sports Home, MLB index and video home. Or right here in this very post. First pitch is at 8:15 p.m. ET. Local blackouts apply, per MLB’s rules.
After these recent signs of life from K.C., we’re not asking “What’s wrong with the Royals?” anymore and instead wondering, “Are those tenacious Royals back?” Just a few days ago they were 30-30 after an eight-game losing streak put them in fourth place. Now they’re 34-30 and a game out of first.
A month ago, on May 15, they were 18-19. A six-game winning streak helped them back to respectability before the big losing streak took it all away. That’s been the pace of the Royals’ season thus far: start and stop, progressing and falling apart.
Even if you don’t believe in momentum, there’s something to be said about sweeping the team ahead of you in the standings and tying them for first place. That’s the kind of thing that can turn around a stop-and-go season like the ones the Royals have been having.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
