After four months and a long rain delay, there’s now a second team at the top of the AL Central. The Royals have caught up with the Guardians.
Paul DeJong hit a two-run home run, and Kansas City moved into a tie for first place with Cleveland by winning 6-1 on Tuesday night. The game was delayed by rain for more than two hours.
The Royals, who had a rough season last year with 106 losses, have played the best in the league since the All-Star break, with a 23-13 record. They were seven games behind the Guardians at that time.
“That’s our goal, to win the division,” Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said. “Clearly nothing is decided. We got a month-plus to go, but we like the way we’re playing. Our guys are super competitive. They don’t back down from anything and this is what a pennant race should be.”
Cleveland had led the division since April 14, a span of 154 days, but has now lost the first three games in this series, which ends with a game on Wednesday. The Guardians have lost nine of their last 12 games and are 17-21 since the break.
Cleveland had a nine-game lead on June 26, but that lead is now gone.
“For me, it’s about the end of the season,” first-year manager Stephen Vogt said. “It doesn’t matter how you get there. What matters is that we do get there. Yeah, if you want to look back at the standings, you have a big lead that’s early in the season, that’s why you play 162 games.
“There’s nothing that says in this final stretch that we don’t go on a run. There’s nothing that says we don’t do it again. So you can’t look at the standings and worry about where you are on any given day.
You’ve got to wait one day at a time, look where you are at the end of the season and then see where it lands.”
DeJong hit his home run in the second inning off Gavin Williams (2-7). The Royals added three runs in the seventh inning with RBI singles from Maikel Garcia and Michael Massey, plus a wild pitch.
James McArthur (5-5) struck out four in two innings, and the Royals’ strong bullpen pitched five perfect innings after the rain delay. The Guardians managed just three hits.
Kansas City’s win had a bit of a scare.
All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was hit on the right hand by a pitch from Pedro Avila in the seventh inning. Witt clutched his hand in pain but stayed in the game and hit a double in the ninth.
Quatraro said Witt was hit on the right middle finger. Witt told reporters in the clubhouse that he was fine.
The game was briefly interrupted in the bottom of the fifth when the grounds crew covered the infield with a tarp at 8:06 p.m. to prepare for the incoming rain. When the rain and lightning arrived, fans moved to the concourses for shelter.
The game was delayed for 2 hours, 14 minutes and resumed at 10:20 p.m. with only a few thousand fans still in the stands.
During the delay, DeJong mentioned that the Royals passed time by playing video games in the clubhouse. He also said All-Star catcher Salvador Perez tried to learn chess.
DeJong noticed that the Royals have a strong team.
“Watching them from the outside in, you saw they got their core pieces,” he said. “They got starting pitching. They got Salvador Perez and Bobby Witt, so it’s a great combo right there to build a team around.
“It’s nice to have those guys, but we have depth and guys who can play all over. A lot of guys are contributing from a lot of different angles and a lot of things are going our way.”
Royals starter Michael Lorenzen left the game in the second inning after straining his left hamstring while covering first base. Quatraro said Lorenzen will return to Kansas City on Wednesday for imaging tests.
“We think it’s mild, but doubtful he’ll be able to pitch in five days,” Quatraro said. “We’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”
