September is the official month of heartbreak in Major League Baseball.
The Kansas City Royals found that out firsthand on Thursday night. Fighting for their lives in the playoff race, the Royals needed a win over the Cleveland Guardians to stay within four games of the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros, who jointly hold the third and final American League wild card position.
Entering the bottom of the eighth inning, the Royals held a 2-1 lead, thanks to a two-run blast from Vinnie Pasquantino all the way back in the first inning. But disaster struck on relief pitcher John Schreiber’s watch.
Guardians rookie right fielder C.J. Kayfus stepped to the plate with a runner on first and deposited a 425-foot moonshot over the right-center field wall at Progressive Field. It sent the Cleveland fans into a frenzy, and while it kept the Guardians’ (75-17) playoff hopes faintly alive, it may have dealt a death blow to Kansas City.
“There is no feeling in the world like that one,” Kayfus said, per Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. “That was truly probably the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life right there.”
The pitch, a 93.3 mph fastball from Schreiber, caught too much of the zone on the inner half. It was only the third home run of Kayfus’ young career, but the 23-year-old showed enough power on the swing to suggest there could be plenty more in his future.
“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone,” Kayfus said. “If it didn’t go, that was all I had.”
The Royals are likely to see much more of Kayfus next season, and their first impression wasn’t a pleasant one. Overall, the Guardians were a major thorn in Kansas City’s side, taking the season series 9-4, and this series in particular sank the Royals’ playoff odds from 6.1% to 1.7%, per Fangraphs.
The Royals can do nothing but keep fighting. But they had their chances throughout the season to put themselves in advantageous positions, and too many times, gut punches like Thursday’s loss came back to bite them.
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‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.si.com ’
