The Sweep That Wasn't

On a day when the Royals were very short-handed in the bullpen, it came back to bite them in the seventh and cost them the sweep and a division lead.

When the starters get 31 outs over three games, the bullpen is taxed. The Royals were in better shape than they could have been, but their horses really weren’t available. So in a 5-2 game going into the bottom of the seventh, Matt Quatraro had a choice. He could send Michael Wacha back to the mound with 91 pitches to face the nine hitter and maybe turn the lineup over before going to the bullpen or he could turn to a unit that only had one leverage reliever who didn’t pitch the previous day. He went with Wacha and it didn’t work.