A.L. Wild Card roundup: Royals rout Chris Sale, close within one-half game of Detroit
Perhaps the Royals are rousing from their offensive slumber at just the right time.
Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run homer, Nori Aoki kept up his tear at the plate and Kansas City roughed up Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale in a 6-2 victory Wednesday night at Kansas City, Missouri, that kept the pressure on Detroit in the A.L. Central.
The Royals sit one-half game back of the Tigers in the division race.
Alcides Escobar also homered for a Royals offense that had been scuffling for weeks, and Aoki went 3 for 4 to finish with 11 hits in the series. Yordano Ventura allowed three hits and two walks over seven innings, the lone run off him coming on a sacrifice fly.
“We’ve got our minds right and we’re going to go out and win some ballgames,” Cain said.
Meanwhile, Sale was cuffed for a season-high five earned runs on nine hits over five innings. It was arguably the three-time All-Star’s worst start since Aug. 23, 2013, when he gave up eight runs over seven innings in a loss to the Rangers.
“It’s not exactly what the doctor ordered,” Sale said. “You know what you’re going to get with this team every time. And they’re fighting, especially in the position they are in now, every pitch is big.”
In the bottom of the third, Escobar and Aoki hit back-to-back singles before Cain sent a pitch over the left-field wall. The three-run homer was the first allowed by Sale on a 0-2 count in his career – 164 appearances and nearly 670 batters over parts of five seasons.
“Fighting Chris Sale is always tough,” Cain said. “He’s one of the best in the game.”
Escobar added his solo shot off Sale with two outs in the fourth.
“Just trying to see the ball,” Escobar said. “I’ve always felt really good against him.”
Twins 8, Tigers 4
Danny Santana tripled, doubled and drove in two runs as Minnesota beat Detroit in Minneapolis to tighten the A.L. Central race ahead of the Tigers’ big weekend series in Kansas City.
Kyle Gibson recovered from a rough start to pitch Minnesota to its second straight win over the division leaders.
Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera went 4 for 5 with a pair of doubles but was thrown out after a costly baserunning mistake in the seventh. With the Twins up 6-4 and Torii Hunter on first, Cabrera hit a one-out double to advance Hunter to third. Victor Martinez grounded to first base and Cabrera was tagged out for an inning-ending double play.
Rangers 6, Athletics 1
Sean Doolittle allowed a three-run homer to J.P. Arencibia during a six-run ninth and Oakland lost to Texas at Oakland, California.
It was the fourth blown save in 25 chances for Doolittle this season.
The bearded closer’s meltdown on the mound negated a stellar start by Jeff Samardzija and ended Oakland’s two-year reign as A.L. West champions. The Los Angeles Angels clinched the division with a 5-0 win over Seattle and the loss by the A’s.
Oakland dropped into a tie with Kansas City for the A.L.’s top wild card. Seattle is two games behind the A’s and Royals for the second and final berth.