The best-of-5 ALDS is even at one game apiece. The Royals beat the Astros in Game 2 on Friday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium (KC 5, HOU 4). They rallied from behind in the middle innings to even the series. Here are six things to know about Game 2.
1. Cueto was not great, but good enough.
There's no doubt Johnny Cueto's brief stint with the Royals during the regular season was disappointing. He went 4-7 with a 4.76 ERA (87 ERA+) in 13 starts after coming over at the trade deadline -- that includes a 2-7 record with a 6.49 ERA in his final nine starts -- and the Royals decided Yordano Ventura was a better option to start Game 1 of the ALDS.
Cueto got the Game 2 start Friday and was ... okay. I guess that's the best way to put it. He allowed one run in the first, two in the second -- to be fair, the second-inning rally included some soft base hits -- and another in the third to put the Royals in a quick 4-1 hole. Cueto did, however, retire 12 of the final 14 batters he faced, throwing scoreless fourth, fifth and sixth innings in the process.
That was good enough to keep the Royals in the game, and after the sluggish start, that's what the Royals wanted out of Cueto. Stop the bleeding, keep the Astros from tacking on runs, and give the offense a chance to rally. Make no mistake, the Royals traded for Cueto seeking dominance, and he's yet to give them that. His Game 2 start was just good enough to get the team a win though.
2. The Royals stepped out of their comfort zone to tie the game.
The Royals are a contact and speed team at heart. They excel offensively by putting the ball in play -- their team 15.9-percent strikeout rate was by far the lowest in baseball -- so, naturally, they tied the game using a combination of home runs and walks.
Salvador Perez got Kansas City on the board with a second-inning solo home run off Scott Kazmir, then, in the sixth, the Royals tied the game when Mike Moustakas drew a walk to load the bases and Perez drew a walk to force in the tying run. Moustakas had a below-average 7.0-percent walk rate during the regular season. Perez? He had a microscopic 2.4-percent walk rate. It was 1.7 percent if you remove intentional walks.
Hey, if you're going to win the World Series, you're going to have to win some games in ways you normally wouldn't. For the Royals, hitting homers and getting walks from Moustakas and Perez qualifies as against the grain.
3. Escobar at leadoff worked.
Normally, batting a guy with a .293 on-base percentage leadoff isn't a good idea. Yet it works for the Royals --- they tried Alex Gordon at leadoff for a while late in the season, but it coincided with a few losses, so back to the top spot went Escobar -- and in the seventh inning, it created the go-ahead run. Escobar ambushed Will Harris' first pitch of the inning and drove it to right field for a leadoff triple. Ben Zobrist singled him in as the next batter.
There's been a big obsession with on-base percentage and working the count over the last 10-15 years, and now there is a bit of a movement in the other direction, calling for players to be more aggressive early in the count. Harris had just entered the game and was looking to get ahead in the count on the first batter. Escobar hit .364 on the first pitch this year, and when Harris gave him something to hit, why not swing early in the count? It set up the game-winning run.
4. Rasmus has turned into a postseason monster.
Once again, Colby Rasmus was at the center of the action for the Astros. He doubled in the team's first run in the first inning, then homered in the third to give Houston a 4-1 lead. Rasmus went 2 for 3 with a walk in the game overall and has now gone deep in each of his three postseason games this year.
Overall, Rasmus is 8 for 18 (.444) with four doubles, three home runs and six RBI in six career postseason games. He's also walked more than he's struck out (five to three). Rasmus, who first went to the postseason with the 2009 Cardinals, is the first player in history with an extra-base hit in each of his first six postseason games.
Perhaps we should have seen this coming though. Rasmus finished the season with six home runs in his last 10 games and eight home runs in his last 24 games. He's now hit 11 home runs in his last 101 plate appearances. Rasmus got hot at the right time for the Astros. They dropped Game 2, but not because of him.
5. This was a HUGE win for the Royals.
Captain obvious: Every win in the postseason is huge. But this one was extra huge for the Royals because they were facing the prospect of falling behind in the series two games to none with the scene about to shift to Houston. Oh, and Cy Young candidate (favorite?) Dallas Keuchel is in line to start Game 3. You don't want to have to face Keuchel with your season on the line. Just ask the Yankees about that.
6. Road teams will not go undefeated this postseason.
It took six games, but the home team has finally won a game this postseason. Including the Rangers win over the Blue Jays on Friday afternoon (TEX 6, TOR 4), the road team had won each of the first five games this postseason. It wasn't until that Rangers-Jays game that the home team even held a lead this October. The Royals' win in Game 2 gives the home club their first postseason win in 2015.
