Bobby Witt Jr. homered in the bottom of the first inning to give the Royals the lead over the Athletics, a lead Kansas City would never relinquish as they completed the four-game mop, winning 6-2.
What’s a mop? you might ask. Well, on the radio, Jake Eisenberg mentioned how the baseball podcast Cespedes Family BBQ differentiates between winning all the games in a three-game series versus a four-game series. In a three-game series, it’s a sweep. A four-gamer, a mop.
Mop it is, and it’s the Royals first
mop of the A’s since 1994.
Rodney Dobnak started for the Royals and received a no-decision. He struggled, but since he struggled against this pathetic Athletics lineup, he didn’t allow a run. In four innings, Dobnak threw 96 pitches, striking out four while walking four and giving up six hits. According to Ryan Lefebvre right after the game, Dobnak became the first starting pitcher since 1932 to allow 1o or more baserunners in four or fewer innings while not allowing a run.
He left the game with a 5-0 lead that Carlos Duran messed with, but just a little bit. Duran recorded only one out but walked three and was charged with two earned runs. Once he left the game, though, the bullpen settled. Connor Thomas, Craig Kimbrel, John Schreiber, and Nate Pearson followed with four-and-2/3 innings pitched in which the Athletics recorded one hit and zero walks.
Thomas picked up his first big-league win.
The offense hummed along nicely in large part due to Witt. Jac Caglianone and Carter Jensen received the day off while Maikel Garcia pulled his hamstring early in the game. He’ll be placed on the Injured List either today or tomorrow.
Still, without those three, the Royals racked up a dozen hits while drawing five walks.
Witt homered, Michael Massey (who finished 3-for-4) and Garcia doubled while Nick Loftin added a triple. Salvador Perez went 3-for-5 with an RBI and run scored while also reaching base on an error. Isaac Collins added two RBIs with a two-run single in the third.
For the series, Witt finished 6-for-15 with two home runs, four walks, five RBIs, and eight runs. He becomes the first Royal since George Brett in 1985 to score eight runs and drive in another five in the same series.
That means that today the Royals did things that hadn’t occurred since 1932, 1985, and 1994. They’ve won five straight for just the second time this season while taking six of their last eight, improving their record to 17-15 since the All-Star Break.
Don’t worry about their overall record.
Now, the Royals host the Detroit Tigers over the weekend. The Tigers are 61-66 but only five games out of first in the Central while just 1.5 games back in the Wild Card.
