Bob Lutz: Royals overcome Yost’s peculiar move to win AL championship

The Kansas City Royals continue to manage their manager, Ned Yost, very well.

The Royals might be down once in a while, but they’re never out. Not even when Yost starts doing things in the dugout that have the folks with white coats checking to see if he’s OK.

KC gave up a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning before the rains came and delayed Game 6 of the American League Championshp Series for an hour. Yost had picked the wrong relief pitcher, Ryan Madson, who gave up a two-run, game-tying homer to Jose Bautista. There was gloom hanging in the clouds over Kauffman Stadium.

But no doom in the dugout.

After the skies cleared, the Royals’ Lorenzo Cain, who drew a leadoff walk as the game resumed, went into sprinter’s mode, scoring from first base on a single down the right-field line by Eric Hosmer.

Cain is fast. Kansas City third-base coach Mike Jirschele knows this. So when Jirschele saw the throw from Bautista, the Jays’ right fielder, go toward second base instead of toward the spot where cutoff man Ryan Goins had set up, he waved Cain home with such energy that Jirschele could’ve gone airborne.

Davis, who should have started the eighth inning if Kelvin Herrera wasn’t going to after 1 2/3 electric innings, did finally get into the game after Madson followed up the home-run ball to Bautista by walking Edwin Encarnacion.

He got out of the eighth with no further damage before the rain. But how would he manage the ninth after such a long delay?

Davis allowed a bloop hit to Russell Martin, who left for pinch-runner Dalton Pompey, who went into full Terrance Gore mode. He swiped second ahead of a walk to Kevin Pillar, then stole third. Pillar then stole second and it looked like the Blue Jays were going to drive a Brink’s truck of stolen bases out of Kauffman.

Then Davis did what Royals fans have become accustomed to Davis doing. He pulled his cap down over his eyes, scowled and went to work.

Dioner Navarro struck out on a nasty Davis slider. Ben Revere struck out on a nasty Davis slider after a 2-1 pitch that appeared to be either high, outside or both was called a strike by home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson.

Then the likely American League MVP, Josh Donaldson, grounded out to Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas to send KC off to its second straight World Series, a feat last accomplished by the Texas Rangers in 2010 and 2011.

This is one tough team with a lineup of tough outs, risk-takers and defensive whizzes. The New York Mets, the Royals’ opponent in the World Series that starts Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, will have their hands full with a KC team that took its manager off the hook yet again.

Yost, to be kind, doesn’t always go by the book. In fact, he rips the pages out of the book and eats them.

His decision to go to Madson in the eighth was confounding for two reasons: the way Herrera was pitching and the way everybody knew Davis would pitch if called upon.

Madson is no slouch. He’s a strong candidate for American League Comeback Player of the Year after posting a 2.13 ERA over 63 1/3 innings while pitching for the first time since 2011.

Kudos for that.

But no way he should have been out there to start the eighth, even though that was often his role during the regular season.

What’s regular about Game 6 of the ALCS with the Royals trying to wrap up a trip to the World Series? We know Yost can be unconventional at times. His decision to leave Davis cold to start the eighth was institutional.

Even putting Herrera out there for another inning would have made more sense than going to Madson, who hasn’t been as sharp this postseason.

Herrera retired the five hitters he faced in dominant fashion. The Blue Jays’ hitters were helpless.

Over the past two regular seasons, Herrera has a 2.06 ERA and has allowed only 106 hits in 139.2 innings. In the postseason he’s been even better, with a 1.64 ERA going into Friday night’s game and 30 strikeouts in 24 innings.

Davis is 17-3 since 2014 with only 71 hits allowed and 187 strikeouts in 139 1/3 innings. And he’s just as tough in the postseason, with only one earned run allowed in 19.1 innings and 27 strikeouts.

Herrera and Davis are two historically-dominant relievers. There are not two players on the Royals who have been more instrumental in getting them to the postseason the past two years.

And Madson starts the eighth?

The decision could have been disastrous. But Yost is like the legendary fish in Old Man Johnson’s lake. You might hook him, but you’ll never catch him.

That’s because his team is good enough to withstand his managerial blunders. The Royals power through any obstacle put in their way.

Tough team. Good team.

It should be a heck of a World Series.

This story was originally published October 24, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Royals overcome Yost’s peculiar move to win AL championship."