Royals Rumblings – News from October 7, 2024

The Royals responded to the controversial safe call for Jazz Chisholm.

“I feel like you guys know me,” Massey said. “I don't give my opinion on a lot of things too often, so I wanted to make sure I had the facts beforehand. Like I said, if this is something that can't be tipped over, I'm not sure what will, other than the obvious shouts from people who are off by half a meter. Then it’s pointless to challenge.”

Jazz thought he was safe.

“No, I knew I was in there,” Chisholm said. “That’s exactly what we talked about at second base. He said, 'I think I had a good day.' I said, 'You put a good label on it.' That doesn't mean I'm out.' It was a lot of fun going back and forth, but I knew I had it and I knew they couldn't reverse it. So I was just ready to get Dugie there and score a run.”

Anne Rogers writes that the royals knew they were taking too many walks.

“We pride ourselves on them earning a living on base,” starter Michael Wacha said, “and we didn’t do that. We have to get them back in the zone, fill them up and create quality pitches in the zone.”

Melanie Martinez-Lopez writes that the Royals had some good offense against Yankees starter Gerrit Cole.

“You could tell Cole was frustrated with Yuli right away,” Melendez remembers. “He took the ball and fouled on shots, he fouled on some difficult pitches. And I think he's the reason I got the result I did in the end, probably because he was able to hit in that one.”

Jaylon Thompson writes about Lucas Erceg's emergence as a top reliever.

“Everything we heard about him from the people in Oakland and all the information we tried to gather, his competitiveness stood out,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “He didn't shy away from any of these challenges.” Most importantly, finish games without losing leads.

“You don’t know how he’s going to react in the moments when he’s closer,” Picollo said. “But I think what he's been through in the last two months gives us a lot of confidence that we're actually closer.”

Bill Ladson of MLB.com writes about the addition of Tommy Pham to the team.

“He’s a great worker, a tireless worker,” Quatraro said. “He’s constantly trying to figure out what he needs to do to improve. And for someone who's been playing for so long, that's not always the norm – his willingness to make some changes and listen to suggestions. He plays extremely hard all the time. I think our guys respect that.”

Craig Brown recaps the first game of the series.

So as we look back and assess the “why” and “what happened” of this loss in Game One, there is a lot to clarify. Yes, the implied repetition is a factor. Ditto the fact that the Royals couldn't consistently get the damn leadoff hitter out. Do you want to set your opponent up for success? Install the leader. Then there was the fateful fifth inning in which the Royals issued not one, but two bases-loaded walks. Or how about the fact that the Royals pitchers gave up a total of eight walks? Or how about sending Perez home in the second, perhaps preventing a bigger inning?

Yes, this game was marred by a stupid video review, but there were some missed opportunities and gift-wrapped runs. Leaning on one factor and one factor alone as the reason for this loss in Game One minimizes the impact of the others. And there were plenty of reasons why the Royals, despite scoring five runs, fell short.

So you can watch the Royals and Chiefs game at the same time tonight.

Kings of Kauffman's Rachael Millanta looks at the silver lining in Game 1.

Royals broadcaster Jake Eisenberg talks about being in the playoffs.

Nick Castellanos closes out the NLDS with a walk-off hit for the Phillies.

Padres/Dodgers Game 2 is delayed after fans throw things on the field, ultimately leading to San Diego's win.

The Guardians shut out the Tigers in Game 1.

The Dodgers believe Yoshinobu Yamamoto tipped his pitches.

Some fans believe Devin Williams changed his mind before giving up the game-winning home run to Pete Alonso.

Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove needs Tommy John surgery.

Clayton Kershaw suffered a setback in rehab and will not return this year.

Where the Guardians found a hidden value.

Where do the Brewers go next after a heartbreaking Wild Card loss?

The Red Sox could trade Masataka Yoshida after a disappointing season.

The A's expect payroll to increase in their first year in Sacramento.

The Blue Jays have a critical offseason ahead.

The Rays could make do with their rotation depth this winter.

How will the Cardinals handle their rotation options?

Sabrina Ionescu and the New York Liberty reach the WNBA finals.

How often do NFL teams that are 5-0 miss the playoffs?

Apple is slowly moving away from its annual product release strategy.

Keanu Reeves makes his professional racing debut.

More than half of next year's top studio film releases will come from existing IPs.

Your song of the day is Folk Implosion Naturally.