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One of my pet theorems about the Kansas City Royals franchise and their fans is that nobody really <\/em>knows what winning looks like, what good players look like. It\u2019s a point of view naturally warped by decades of mediocrity punctuated by brief seasons of excitement. Tonight, the New York Yankees crushed the Royals 15-1 and notched a hilarious 24 hits in a farce of a game that was never close.<\/p>\n There\u2019s not much of a story to this one, really. The Royals, down a couple of starting pitchers and bereft of any legitimate arms in the upper minors to help, made this a bullpen game. One week ago, I sat in the press box and wrote about a game wrecked by Bailey Falter and The Bullpen Dudes. Tonight, I type this sitting in the press box and am writing about a game being wrecked by Bailey Falter and The Bullpen Dudes once again.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Falter\u2019s first inning was one of the worst innings I think I\u2019ve ever seen. No, he didn\u2019t give up nine runs in a frame like Edinson Volquez did in 2016<\/a> or 10 runs like Vin Mazarro\u2019s fourth inning disaster in 2011<\/a>, but it was frankly a miracle he didn\u2019t give up more. And that\u2019s because, well, just look at this:<\/p>\n Seven batted balls. An average\u2014average!!!\u2014exit velocity of 104 MPH. Not a single ball had an expected batting average of less than .460, and that one was the home run. Just an absolute embarrassment. Four runs scored.<\/p>\n Now, to be somewhat fair to Falter, he should have been out of it with just Cody Bellinger<\/a>\u2019s solo home run on the board. Two batters later, Ben Rice<\/a> hit a sinking line drive to right field. Jac Caglianone<\/a> had a bead on it but jogged it down instead of ran it down, barely catching the ball with his glove touching the ground.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But the Yankees challenged. They thought the ball touched the ground in the course of the catch, and the MLB replay officials agreed. That<\/em> ended up scoring Paul Goldschmidt<\/a> and led to two more runs.<\/p>\n