MLB Rankings: Greatest Hits in Week-13
8. Cavan Biggio, 44 percent
Life’s been tough enough for the Kansas City Royals this season. The AL Central’s doormats are producing two losses for every win, and only Baltimore has a worse record than Kansas City’s 28-55.
So when the Royals get a chance to actually cash a victory and then fail, Royals fans feel the pain acutely.
On Saturday, they were done in by the son of a Hall of Famer.
Behind Homer Bailey, the Royals built an early 5-1 advantage over the Toronto Blue Jays at the Rogers Centre. A two-run first helped, and – as seems inevitable when the Royals offense functions – Hunter Dozier had a hand in it. His fourth-inning double drove in the run that boosted KC’s lead to 5-1.
All Toronto had to show in opposition was Vlad Guerrero’s solo home run.
That changed, however, in the fifth, and as might be expected, the Royals assisted in their own downfall. Bailey opened the inning by walking Brandon Drury, surrendered a one-out hit to Eric Sogard, then with two out also walked Lourdes Gurriel to load the bases.
The next hitter was Cavan Biggio, whose dad, Craig, is enshrined in Cooperstown alongside Guerrero’s pop. As he stepped to the plate, the odds of a Blue Jays win measured just 23 percent. But Biggio’s grand slam blast to left center not only tied the game, but it also increased the likelihood of a Toronto victory all the way to 67 percent.
Kansas City scored in the top of the ninth to take a 6-5 lead, then Danny Jansen’s two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth sent the Royals to their usual fate anyway, a 7-6 loss.