Royal Scrolls: The Monster in the Closet

KC is outclassed by the pinstripes as the clock ticks on the season

Photo courtesy of AP/Ed Zurga

Royal Scrolls is a recap of the week so far and a preview of the weekend ahead, along with news, nuggets and notes.

If you could put on your lab coat and Frankenstein the most frustrating, heartbreaking, annoying way for the Royals to be swept, it would look a lot like this week.

The monster wears pinstripes with a face that’s half Aaron Judge, half Austin Wells and the right arm of… Lucas Erceg?

After a pair of lifeless defeats Tuesday and Wednesday, in which New York outscored Kansas City 16-5, Thursday’s affair started innocently enough. Seth Lugo didn’t bring his A-game (just a 21% CSW) to the mound but scattered five baserunners across 5.2 scoreless innings.

The Royals managed just seven baserunners of their own in the contest, but put a man at third on multiple occasions without the ability to bring him home.

Finally, in the top of the eighth inning of a scoreless draw, Erceg entered with the task of keeping things level for his teammates in the bottom half. He allowed a meek 82 MPH single to Pablo Reyes before staring down Judge, entering the game as a pinch hitter.

The at-bat was popcorn-worthy with Erceg firing three straight sliders with two sweeping off the outer edge of the plate. On 2-1, he let loose a changeup — just the sixth he’s thrown to a right-handed hitter this season — and earned a whiff from the best hitter in the sport. Following a narrow miss with a frontdoor slider, Erceg went back to the pitch again and earned the call with a massive strikeout of the gargantuan MVP.

Trent Grisham grounded out, Ben Rice walked then… disaster. A Paul Goldschmidt liner caught the laces of Vinnie Pasquantino’s glove, who flipped the ball to Erceg at first base to no avail. With Reyes caught midway between third base and home, the Royals relief ace fired a worm-burner into Freddy Fermin’s shins. You watched the result a few scrolls up.

In a vacuum, it’s the type of play long forgotten by the weekend. But for a club that can’t score, looking to avoid a sweep and coming off the heels of a series loss to the White Sox, it’s a nightmare exclamation point on what’s been a horror novel of a week, including the news that Cole Ragans will hit the injured list (again) and this time not for the minimum stint.

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