Final Score: KC 3 | LAD 4

Overall Record: 40-31

Winning/Losing Pitcher

• W: Daniel Hudson (3-1 | 2.00 ERA)
• L: Will Smith (0-3 | 5.40 ERA)
• S: Alex Vesia (3 | 1.13 ERA)

Royals Player of the Game

Salvador Perez

1-3, HR (11), 3 RBI

Salvy brought all of the offense the Royals had Friday night, with a monstrous three-run bomb in the top of the fourth. Like Ryan Lefebvre said, not many people hit them out there. And I for one, thought that it had a chance to go over everything out there, and add himself to that group of people that have “hit it out of Dodger Stadium”. Only bad thing from yesterday regarding Salvy, is that he had to leave midway through this game with knee discomfort. They said they would need to re-evaluate on Saturday to see if it will be more of a problem. But it looks like Perez feels pretty hopeful in good news. An injury to the captain would be a worst case scenario for this team, whose identity lies pretty much on him. This offense has a superstar in Salvy, who showed everyone what he can be in the big spotlight in L.A. 

Key Highlights

While the only offensive production from the offense was Salvy’s bomb, Cole Ragans proved that he is going to be a force to reckon with now and for the immediate future. Holding the Dodgers scoreless for five innings, and going a total of seven innings pitched, only allowing three runs. Him and Gavin Stone were toying with each of the respective lineups, with both of them having three perfect innings to start the game. Maybe a showing of the future with some of the best young pitchers in this league. Little bit of an odd detail from Ragans’ start? He didn’t have problems with the top of the Dodgers lineup that includes some of the best players in the league. He gave up home runs to Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor, the 8-9 hitters of that dangerous lineup. But all the credit to Ragans, who went seven and had a solid outing against probably the best lineup in baseball. There isn’t much you can ask for from a starter who hasn’t faced that one-of-a-kind lineup. And we have to talk about the absolute crazy play from Bobby Witt Jr. 

He put on a display, showcasing his range, instincts, and feel for the shortstop position. To have the wherewithal to be in left field, turn around and throw a dart to Nick Loftin to get the runner trying to advance from first. It was electric, and all the stars were out for Bobby Witt Jr.’s birthday. Now to the unfortunate stuff, there was a throwing error by Will Smith in the bottom of the eighth, which moved the illustrious Mookie Betts into scoring position for Freddie Freeman. Who honestly hits a pitch that only Freddie Freeman could get a single on. It just so happens to be in Freddie’s wheelhouse and he floats a single over everyone’s head into centerfield. The margins for error are very small, and with this Royals team this year have shown some problems with small details of the game. But against teams like the Yankees and the Dodgers, those issues look even bigger in size. Because they will capitalize on them immediately. And we know that, this Royals team when they are hot take advantage of every opportunity that is thrown to them. The Royals offense runs out of time, leaving the tying run on to end the game. But they need to get it done before then. Outside of Salvador Perez, everyone really couldn’t get it going outside of Maikel Garcia, who had two hits. Everyone else kind of fell off. We’ll see how the rest of the series goes against one of the best teams in baseball. 

Summary of the Next Game

We have a matchup on the mound for the ages on Saturday, as Seth Lugo and Yoshinobu Yamamoto go head to head to see who’s the better right hander. Lugo of course has had some struggles the past couple starts, coming back to earth after his amazing start to the season. He still has an ERA under 2.50, so nothing to complain about there. Yamamoto has been extremely solid for the Dodgers this year, with this being his first year in the major leagues, he’s adjusted well. With them being on the west coast, we don’t get this one til 8:10p CST tonight. So strap in for a classic, with a pitchers duel incoming on the mound.