How Sweep it is

A four game sweep of the Tigers. The first four game sweep for the Royals since 1999. I'll take it. Even if it is at the tail end of the worst season in our history.

I was in Kansas City yesterday, so I caught the game. Mediocre pitching performances by both Gobble and Johnson kept the game close, but the Royals were down one run going into the bottom of the ninth. After recently breaking the 100+ game losing streak when trailing after eight innings, the Royals pulled off another come from behind victory when Denny Hocking sent a ground ball up the middle, scoring two runs making the final score: Royals 4, Detroit 3.

One particular thing to note about this game is the continued need for veterans on this club. When the Royals were down by one run in the bottom of the ninth inning with bases loaded, John Buck came to the plate and took some of the biggest rips I've ever seen against Fernando Rodney. One such rip came on a pitch that was 100 mph—literally. We didn't need a home run. We really didn't even need a hit. Just a simple medium depth fly ball would have sufficed. The game would have been tied and we still could have won the game with a two out hit. A veteran would have known to cut down on his swing. Although you'd think a second year guy would know that as well. But Buck struck out and up came Denny Hocking for the light hitting Andres Blanco.

Hocking was down in the count early, 0-2. He didn't panic though and worked it back to 2-2. No huge rips from Hocking. Not even an off balance swing against a guy who can throw the ball by anybody in the league and then follow it up with a biting slider. Instead, Hocking hit a ball up the middle and it found its way into centerfield, scoring two runners and winning the game. I snapped a photo of Hocking being interviewed after the game:


I'm guessing that one of the last things a manager wants to experience late in a close game list this is to look down his bench to see who is available for pinch-hitting duties and realize that his best option is a career .255 hitter without any power. But at least Hocking isn't a career .255 hitter without much experience in similar situations—like most of the rest of the guys on the roster.

Hopefully, Baird will remember situations like this when building the roster for next season.