Bob Lutz: Royals are taking it to the wire

Remember, Royals fans, you wanted this. You wanted meaningful September baseball with the postseason on the line. You wanted the churning stomachs and throbbing heads that go with “games of importance.”

How do you like it now?

The Royals are right there. They can almost touch October.

After Friday and Saturday losses to the Detroit Tigers, things looked bleak. The Royals were going to have to depend on veteran right-hander Jeremy Guthrie to try and salvage the final game of the series. Let’s just say Guthrie doesn’t have the kind of back teams feel comfortable putting their seasons on.

But he came through. Kansas City beat the Tigers, who lost again Monday night to the Chicago White Sox before winning Tuesday after blowing a 3-0 lead in the top of the ninth, then scoring the winning run in the bottom of the inning.

So the Royals trail Detroit by a game in the American League Central. Oakland, which played late Tuesday night against the Angels, took a half-game lead over KC into that game for the first wild-card spot. Fading Seattle, blasted for the second game in a row by Toronto, trails the Royals by three games for the second wild card.

Kansas City can do this. The Royals are about the clinch a spot in the postseason and are right there to overtake the Tigers in the AL Central.

But work remains. There are still five games left, including the finale of a three-game series in Cleveland on Wednesday. Then the Royals go to Chicago for a regular-season-ending four-game set against the White Sox. So let’s try and answer some pertinent questions with the thought that next week the Kansas City Royals could be in the American League playoffs for the first time in 29 years.

This could happen.

Do the Royals have enough hitting?

Of course not, but isn’t that the fun of all this? Kansas City can’t hit, yet the Royals are just a few wins away from locking up a spot in the postseason. The team’s two most-accomplished offensive players, Billy Butler and Alex Gordon, were a combined 15 for 100 in September before breaking out with two hits apiece, five runs scored and three RBIs in KC’s 7-1 win over Cleveland on Tuesday night.

But with a bunch of wet blankets disguised as bats, the Royals are nonetheless just a win or two away from locking up a spot in the postseason. This team hits a home run about as often as it rains, yet the Royals … you know the drill. Kansas City isn’t going to suddenly start drilling doubles into the gaps and lighting up the scoreboard. The Royals have to keep doing what they’ve been doing – pitch, play defense and be aggressive on the base paths. That’s the formula, like it or not.

Why has Detroit hung around?

The Tigers have the kind of team that should have run away and hid from the American League Central weeks ago. But they haven’t. Bullpen woes and inconsistent starting pitching have plagued Detroit, which has three former Cy Young Award winners in its rotation.

Trouble is, only one of them – Max Scherzer – looks anything like himself while both Justin Verlander and David Price muddle along. The Tigers have by far the best lineup in the division and maybe in the league. But they can’t create breathing room because the bullpen is a disaster.

Could the Chicago White Sox decide the division winner?

You better believe it. Detroit’s series with them concludes Wednesday. The Royals then start their season-ending series with the White Sox, who could have a lot of fun in the season’s final five games. Even though they’ve been out of the pennant chase for weeks, Chicago is playing like an engaged team. The Sox are 11-9 since Aug. 31 and 8-4 since Sept. 10, so Chicago obviously hasn’t checked out.

And Royals fans, you’re going to like what I write in the next sentence, so be sure and read it over and over again. Chicago ace Chris Sale, a left-hander with a 12-4 record and 2.20 ERA, pitches against Verlander and the Tigers on Wednesday night. That means a couple of things: Sale, one of the toughest pitchers in baseball, is going to make a start against the Tigers. And he’s not going to make a start in the weekend series against the Royals. Can I get a “Hallelujah!” Royals fans?

How big would it be for the Royals to win the AL Central?

Do you really have to ask? No team wants a one-game, winner-take-all scenario. Two wild-card spots have added to the suspense of the regular season, but being a division winner is where it’s at. If things remain as they stand, Kansas City would play at Oakland in the wild-card game Tuesday.

James Shields, who pitches Wednesday against the Indians, would be fully rested to go in that one. So, too, would A’s ace Jon Lester. Kansas City’s sights are on catching the Tigers, winning the division and being assured of some home postseason games. Fun, isn’t it?

This story was originally published September 23, 2014 at 10:00 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Royals are taking it to the wire."