Bob Lutz: Butler delivers twice in Royals’ must-have game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Bless Billy Butler’s big ol’ Country Breakfast heart.

In the first inning of the World Series’ Game 2 Wednesday night, San Francisco starter Jake Peavy obviously pitched around Eric Hosmer to get to Butler, even though the Royals’ designated hitter has knocked Peavy around during his career (15 for 34 after the first-inning single).

But come on, walking Hosmer was still the right thing to do with two outs. It put runners at first and second and put the pressure squarely on Butler’s shoulders with Kansas City already down a run, thanks to Gregor Blanco’s leadoff homer.

Butler came through, smacking a single into left field that scored Lorenzo Cain with the tying run and allowed everybody in Kansas City to exhale.

Then, in the sixth inning of a 2-2 game, Butler came to the plate after the first two KC batters, Cain and Hosmer, had singled and walked.

Butler hasn’t put down a sacrifice bunt in his career, covering 4,844 plate appearances. But this was the time and the place, especially with bunt-happy manager Ned Yost calling the shots. And because Butler, who runs like a 1967 Ford pickup, is a double-play machine. He’s hit into 168 in his career and two more during this postseason.

Those double plays have killed more buzzes than late-night Denny’s meals. And because Yost had already inserted speedy Jarrod Dyson into center field for defense, one of the Royals’ best bunters and speediest runners was not available.

Butler didn’t bunt. He’ll never bunt. Even when the baseball book, wherever it is, called for one.

Instead, Butler hacked with the fear of a double play on everybody’s minds. But he murdered a Jean Machi fastball for a hit into left field, easily scoring Cain and setting up a five-run inning that lifted the spirits of a team, an organization and a city.

“When the count got to 2-0, I knew the last thing (Machi) wanted to do was put another guy on there,” Butler said. “I knew he would attack me with a fastball.”

And Butler hit it out much harder than it came in for the biggest hit of the World Series so far.

With a 7-2 win, the Royals have tied this series heading to San Francisco for three games. More importantly, Kansas City has discovered there’s nothing to fear in these Giants, except maybe Madison Bumgarner, who was so good in the Giants’ Game 1 win. But the Royals won’t see him again until Game 5 on Sunday, and by then they could be in pretty good shape.

We’ll see.

Kansas City’s sixth inning was huge.

Butler wasn’t the only Royals player to not get the bunt sign in a situation that probably called for one. His single again left runners at first and second with no outs, with Alex Gordon batting. But Gordon has only five sacrifices in his career, so again Yost gave his hitter the green light.

Gordon flied out to left.

But a wild pitch by Hunter Strickland, who won’t soon forget his first appearance in the World Series and not because of fuzzy feelings, served as the sacrifice that never was, allowing Hosmer and pinch-runner Terrance Gore to move up. They scored on a laser-shot double by Salvador Perez to make it 5-2.

Then Omar Infante, who had not homered in 144 previous postseason at-bats, torched a Strickland fastball for a two-run shot to left. It was 7-2 and it was over.

But not before Strickland shot off a verbal assault on Perez because, apparently, he didn’t like the way he crossed home plate. But probably more because Strickland, who started the season in Class A before a late-season summons to San Francisco, has given up five home runs to the 23 batters he has faced in the postseason.

The verbal sparring caused players in both dugouts and bullpens to at least think about approaching the field. But tempers cooled before anything robust happened and Strickland was replaced by Jeremy Affeldt.

It got so bad for the Giants that right-hander Tim Lincecum, a two-time Cy Young Award winner who has become a human white flag in the San Francisco bullpen because of ineffectiveness and injury issues, even got into the game to mop up.

The feel-good story of the night, though, was Butler. He has had more ups and downs than the nearby Mamba at Worlds of Fun. Royals fans love him for a while and hate him every time he bounces into a double play.

Butler will be relegated to a bench role during the games in San Francisco, which will be played under National League rules — no DH. He’ll be a free agent after the World Series, but isn’t it hard to imagine him anywhere other than Kansas City? He grew up in the organization.

“Obviously, I’ve been here for 10 years,” Butler said before Game 2. “There’s been a lot more tough times than there’s been good, but this is a great experience. To see us come and to see this process go from the beginning to where we are now, it’s incredible.

“The contract situation still take care of itself. But just being here and being able to experience this with these guys I’ve played my whole career with, it’s an incredible honor.”

If Butler does depart Kansas City after the World Series, it’s likely he’ll do so without ever laying down a bunt. And it’s for the best.

This story was originally published October 22, 2014 at 11:25 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Butler delivers twice in Royals’ must-have game."