In sweep, Royals show they're more than just speed

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Billy Butler was talking to news reporters amid the bedlam in the Kansas City Royals clubhouse Sunday night when first-base coach Rusty Kuntz gave him a high-five, sprayed him with champagne and exclaimed, "Atta boy, Bill! That's what speed do."

The motto, coined by fleet-footed outfielder Jarrod Dyson, typically applies to the way the Royals' gang of jackrabbits makes the club's offense go, compensating for a major league-low home run output by running circles around opponents.

But in clinching a sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with an 8-3 victory in Game 3 of the American League Division Series, Kansas City stole only one base, by that noted speed demon Butler, who now has six to his credit in an eight-year career.

Instead, it was the Royals' booming bats – heretofore an oxymoron – that propelled them to the AL Championship Series for the first time since 1985.

Kansas City won the first two games with 11th-inning home runs, by Mike Moustakas in the opener and by Eric Hosmer in second, then powered up against C.J. Wilson and the Angels relievers in the finale. Alex Gordon cleared the bases with a double to the left-center field wall in the first, and Hosmer and Moustakas both homered again.

That's not to say the longball will replace small ball as the Royals' preferred method of attack, but it should give the Baltimore Orioles something to think about as they prepare for their ALCS clash beginning Friday.

"We hit the ball well this series. We won with home runs a few times," Butler said. "That's not usually our M.O., but it shows you we're growing as a team and we're getting better even at this stage."

The clincher showed the Royals at their best, playing the kind of complete game that confirms they're for real.

Besides getting the big blows by Gordon, Hosmer and Moustakas, the three No. 1 picks selected to become franchise cornerstones, the Royals completed the sweep because:

• James Shields, the veteran starter acquired before the 2013 season to guide a youthful staff, pitched six solid innings to keep the Angels at bay while notching his first postseason victory since the 2008 World Series.
• The fearsome bullpen that had not yielded a run in nine innings during the series welcomed back seventh-inning specialist Kelvin Herrera, who showed his arm is healthy by hitting 101 mph on the radar gun. The relievers yielded their first run in the eighth but kept K.C. comfortably ahead.
• Center fielder Lorenzo Cain, who twice robbed the Angels of hits in Game 1, thwarted a rally with back-to-back sensational catches in the fifth, the latest demonstration of Kansas City's knack for frustrating opposing hitters even when they make good contact.

"We have the best defense in the game, hands down," said Shields, who gave up a first-inning homer to Mike Trout and had to work out of several dicey situations. "I'm a fan too. I'm a spectator watching these boys be as athletic as it gets."

Cain and right fielder Nori Aoki had already made two outstanding catches apiece in Game 1, helping the Royals force extra innings, before Cain put on another fielding clinic Sunday.

Shields was showing signs of faltering, allowing two runners to reach base in three consecutive innings, but Cain came to his rescue by snagging sinking liners by Albert Pujols and Howie Kendrick, the first with a full-extension dive and the second with a slide.

"The first play I didn't see any way that he could make that play," manager Ned Yost said. "When the ball was hit I'm thinking, 'OK, that ball is a base hit, and he came out of nowhere like Superman and caught it. The next play was a bit easier, but it was still every bit as pretty."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia said Cain's catches changed the shape of the game, and they provided further examples of the Royals' ability to find different approaches to winning. They had bedeviled the Oakland A's with seven steals in the wild-card game, and against the high-powered Angels they succeeded by catching everything in sight.

Dyson, brought into Game 2 as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning, also made an impact by throwing out a runner at third to kill an Angels scoring chance.

"That's part of their team, their range in the outfield," Scioscia said, "and it showed up in this series for sure."

With every key play, the Royals' confidence has continued to surge. This is a club mostly composed of homegrown players who had not tasted the playoffs at the major league level.

It wasn't until last year that the Royals broke through with a winning season after nine losing years in a row. It wasn't until this season that they reached the playoffs for the first time since 1985. The comeback against the A's was inspirational, and the sweep of the Angels transformational.

Now, after becoming the first club to win three consecutive postseason games in extra innings, then blowing out the team with the majors' best record in the ALDS finale, the Royals are convinced they belong in this stage.

"You're seeing a lot of guys who are experiencing the spotlight this way for the first time," veteran pitcher Jeremy Guthrie said. "And, to our benefit, they're responding in a great way. That was one of the unknowns. What are we going to have going into these playoffs? And so far so good."