5.23.15 Recap: Royals Win Rain-Shortened Game 3-2

There once was a rule about what's a complete game

If you've played five full innings, they'll call it; it's lame

'Cause the best part of baseball

Is the clock doesn't make calls

Ending the night, score 3 to 2, is a shame

The Game

John Lackey faced off against Edinson Volquez tonight.  The Royals are a great team, off to their best start in franchise history.  The Cardinals, of course, entered the night somehow still managing to own the best record in baseball, despite going 4-5 in their last nine games and being held scoreless over the last 23 innings.  The Royals had won four in a row.

The scoring in this rain-shortened game started in the top of the second inning. Jhonny Peralta led off the inning with a double.  Randal Grichuk (inexplicably, unforgivably, batting fifth tonight) followed with a walk, and Matt Adams followed with another.  Yadier Molina was up next, but hit a ground ball that took a weird hop and hit Eric Hosmer in the neck.  If not for the neck-hit, it probably would have been a double play.  As it went, Peralta scored and the Royals could only get the out at first.  1-0 Cardinals.  Mark Reynolds and Peter Bourjos both popped up to end the inning.  With the bases loaded, and no one out, the Cardinals only managed one run.  It's been that kind of a stretch.

The Royals came back in the bottom of the second, after a Kendrys Morales base hit and an Alex Gordon home run.  2-1 Royals.

Lackey got into and out of trouble again in the fourth inning.  After a lead off double by Hosmer, Morales hit a fly ball to Holliday that was awkward enough for him to catch that Hosmer was able to tag up and go to third base.  Lackey intentionally walked Gordon to get to Salvador Perez, who followed with a base hit, and Hosmer scored.  3-1 Royals.  That was the bad news.  The good news was that Lackey got Jarrod Dyson to pop out on the infield - which did not allow the runner at third to score - and Alcides Escobar to fly out to right field.  What could have been a big inning for the Royals was not.

The Cardinals scored again in the top of the fifth inning.  Gorgeous Peter Bourjos (he of the very respectable .767 OPS on May 23) hit a single to center field.  Kolten Wong followed with a single of his own, as did Matt Carpenter.  Bourjos scored on Marp's hit, which Lorenzo Cain struggled with a bit.  (I'm of the opinion that he would have scored anyway, but whatevs.)  Matt Holliday extended his really-long-I-can't-remember-the-exact-number on base streak with a HBP.  That's how he got on base last night, as well.  With two on and one out, and Jhonny Peralta up to bat, I had high hopes.  Alas, Peralta grounded into a double play to end the inning.  3-2 Kansas City.

The light rain that had settled over most of the game turned into a full-on storm in the sixth inning.  The umpires called a rain delay in the middle of the sixth inning.  After awhile, and after the radar showed no rest for the wicked, the game was called.  Royals stupidly win 3-2 in a stupid rain-shortened stupid game.  (Stupid looks like a weird word, now, doesn't it?)

Notes

1. Randal Grichuk made a really nice sliding catch in the bottom of the fifth inning.  There's no video up of this yet! Check it out later if you get a chance.

2. Jason Heyward sat today, because...why, exactly?!  It seems like Grichuk is now favored over him, which is just silly.

3. On a completely unrelated note, the Diamondbacks have Saltalamacchia, but are still starting Tuffy Gosewisch like every day.  I guess Salty is in the minors.  I don't understand this.

4. Michael Wacha goes against Yordano Ventura at 1:10 CT tomorrow.  Let's get a win, boys.