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| Mike Moustakis connects on a pitch from Fernando Salas leading off the top of the 11th inning. Moustakis cleared the right-field wall for a homer that gave the Kansas City Royals a 3-2 victory over the California Angels in Game 1 of an American League Divisional Series on Oct. 2, 2014. (YouTube screen grab) |
By Phil Ellenbecker
typified the Cinderalla, up-from-under spirit that the 2014 Kansas City Royals more than Mike Moustakis.
Here's a who was once of the most-promising in all of , a No. 2 , his had sunk so low the had him down to the for eight in 2014.
And his hadn't that by the time the Royals into the postseason for the first time in 29 years. He was in the No. 9 in the , off a in which he'd a career-low .212, when Kansas City on Anaheim in Game 1 of their 2014 American League Division Series.
here was "Moose" up and hoisting a into the right-field stands off the 11th of that , and the Royals to a 3-2 at Angel Stadium on Thursday, Oct 2.
It was the second in a of that very the Royals to a world . K.C. was off a , 9-8, 12-inning wild-card over Oakland for its first postseason since Game 7 of the 1985 World Series.
And it against a that had a major-league 98-64 , with soon-to-be MVP Mike Trout, with a of under Mike Sciosia that had six , seven postseason and a world in 2002.
But now it was the Royals' to , or at do it . " up," as their . Moustakis' , other Game 1 six from Jason Vargas, with the of some , and a stifling from K.C.'s always-reliable , with seven relievers combining to out the Angels on one hit.
Moustakis broke a five-inning stranglehold by both teams' bullpens when he on a 1-1 belt-high fastball out over the by Fernando Salas and cleared the right-field wall. Salas had just the game.
It was the first hit for the Royals since the fifth and the first extra-inning homer in the postseason in franchise .
With a save situation in place, K.C. closer Greg Holland came on. He struck out Gordon Beckham and Erick Aybar, then appropriately enough got Josh Hamilton to pop to Moustakis at third base to end the game.
The Royals' bullpen dominance began in the seventh inning after Kelvin Herrera, who'd just relieved Vargas to start the inning, had to leave because of an arm injury after walking David Freese.
In rookie Brandon Finnigan, a hero in the wild-card win with 2 1/3 innings of one-run, rescue relief. Freese advanced to second on Aybar's sacrifice bunt and to third on Hamilton's out.
Now came setup man supreme Wade Davis to face C.J. Cron, who sent a drive to the warning track in right. Right fielder Nori Aoki drifted to the wall, then under the to a falling-down, on-his-knees circus catch.
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| Kansas City Royals right fielder Nori Aoki goes to his knees to gather in a drive off the bat of Anaheim's C.J. Cron in the seventh inning of Game 1 of a 2014 American League Divisional Series on Oct. 2. Aoki's catch was one of four eye-popping plays that helped the Royals beat the Angels 3-2. (YouTube screen grab) |
The Royals, Davis, Tim Collins and Jason Frasor, continued dodging bullets as the Angels, using walks, another bunt and a Davis wild pitch, moved runners to second but no further each of the two innings.
The Angels got their first hit off a Royals reliever when Danny Duffy, who'd begun the year in the but had been a starter since May 3, a single by Kole Calhoun leading off the 10th. But hit into a fielder's choice, Albert Pujols popped out and Howie Kendrick struck out. Then came Moose, who made Duffy the winning .
The strikeout of Kendrick capped a washout of a night for the Angels' No. 2, 3 and 4 hitters, with Trout, Albert Pujols and Kendrick going a combined 0-for13. Kendrick was 0-for-5 with three strikeouts.
Aoki's catch to end the seventh capped a night of dazzling plays by Royals outfielders, beginning almost from the get-go. Calhoun led off the of the first by sending center fielder Lorenzo Cain to the wall. Cain leaped and made a homer-saving catch over the .
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Kansas City center fielder Lorenzo Cain robs Anaheim's Cole Calhoun of a homer leading off the bottom of the first inning of the Royals' 3-2 11-inning victory over the Angels on Oct. 2. (YouTube screen grabs)
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Cain went the other to make a diving catch of a sinking drive by Aybar to end the second.
The TV cameras caught Vargas, who was making his first postseason start, "are you kidding me" expressions as he watched Cain save his bacon both .
Cain ran after another leaping on a shot to deep right-center by Kendrick in the sixth. But Aoki stole some thunder from Cain when he went under him to make a backhand catch as the two converged. And it was indeed shaping up to be a frustrating night for Kendrick.
Appropriately , Moustakis began the night's scoring when he walked and ran home on Alcides Escobar's with two out in the third off Angels starter Jered Weaver, a college teammate of Vargas. Escobar sent a one-hopper to the wall over fielder Hamilton.
On a where the long figured largely in what scoring there was, and No. 9 hitters stepped up big, Anaheim's Chris Iannetta delivered a two-out solo homer to left from the of the order in the of the third, it at 1-1.
The two teams matched runs again in the fifth. Alex Gordon doubled leading off the top half and went to third when Salvador Perez flied out to Hamilton, pinning the Angels' left against the wall. Omar Infante followed with a sacrifice to center, putting K.C. in front.
Freese, who'd helped the St. Louis Cardinals win the 2011 World Series with a game-tying triple and game-winning, 11th-inning Game 6 homer, retied the game by homering into the left-field bullpen the of the fifth.
While the Royals pitchers were containing Anaheim's advances from the seventh through 10th, their hitters weren't getting anywhere with the Angels' hurlers.
Weaver, Joe Smith, Huston Street and Kevin Jepsen combined to retire 13 straight batters before Eric Hosmer walked with one out in the 10th. Base-running specialist Terrance Gore ran for Hosmer and stole second. But Gordon lined to center and Perez popped to first, leaving it to Moustakis to supply the knockout punch in the 11th.
Weaver, Joe Smith, Huston Street and Kevin Jepsen combined to retire 13 straight batters before Eric Hosmer walked with one out in the 10th. Base-running specialist Terrance Gore ran for Hosmer and stole second. But Gordon lined to center and Perez popped to first, leaving it to Moustakis to supply the knockout punch in the 11th.
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| Mike Moustakis had been sent back to the minor leagues for a short time in 2014, but there was no looking back for him once the Kansas City Royals reached the playoffs. He belted a team postseason record five homers as the Royals reached the World Series, and he's reached new heights since. (Peter G. Aiken/USA TODAY Sports) |
Moustakis' game-winner kick-started a career renaissance. He'd flashed some potential with 20 homers in his first full season but mightily the next two. He .233 with 12 homers and 42 RBIs in 2013, then had slashed, or hacked, .212-15-54 in the '14 regular season.
But the postseason him regaining his power stroke, as he hit one more homer in the ALDS, two more in the Royals' Championship Series of Baltimore and in their seven-game World Series loss to San Francisco to the Royals' record for homers in a single postseason with five.
That set the tone for a .284-22-84 in 2015, when he earned his first All-Star selection and the Royals won the World Series. He hit homer in the ALCS, his six postseason homers now ranking second on the team's career legendary George Brett's 10.
After a right knee injury cut short his 2016 season, he bounced back in 2017 for his second All-Star appearance and was named AL Comeback Player of the Year, hitting 38 homers to tie former Kansas City Athletic Bob Cerv's K.C. major league record (broken in 2019 by Jorges Soler's 48). Moustakis has averaged 34 homers the past three seasons, and he's also proved himself capable of playing second base. That's where he's slotted to play for Cincinnati, with whom he's signed a free-agent contract.
It's a far cry from Omaha, where he himself for a spell in 2014 playing for the Royals' Triple-A farm . Then he seemingly himself, figurately and for the , on Oct. 2 in Anaheim.
The rest is Moose history, and Royals history.
Fallen Angels
While the Royals had just begun their two-season postseason run with their opening-game win over Anaheim, the Angels were reaching a dead end. K.C. took the two games,4-1 and 8-3, to complete a sweep.
The Angels, now known as the Los Angeles Angels, haven't been back to the postseason since, and Scioscia resigned after 19 seasons at the helm in 2018.
So that means Trout, a three-time MVP who's been ranked in the of all-time greats such as Mickey Mantle, still has played in only one postseason in his nine years in the big leagues.
And not much to show for that one postseason. Trout 1-for-12 in the 2014 ALDS, his only hit a homer in Game 3.
Sources:
Play-by-play: https://www.
More on the Series:
http://www.espn.com/mlb/
Video highlights: https://www.
Audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqk1HtQ9mqQ
Additional background came from various sources on the Retrosheet and Society for American Baseball Research's Biography Project and Games Project websites, as well as baseballreference.com
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