Matheny Praises Royals After First Three-Game Series Sweep of 2022
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The Kansas City Royals' 2022 season went mostly down the drain quite a while ago, but the team apparently hasn't caught wind of that news. Kansas City's 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on Thursday capped off the club's first three-game series sweep of this year, and it came with just under two weeks of the 2022 campaign left to go.
Heading into the home series against the Twins, the Royals were a measly 4-12 against their American League Central foes in 2022. That was primarily the result of 78 runs being allowed in those 16 outings alone (an average of nearly five per game). By giving up just seven runs over the course of this previous three-game set, however, the Royals gained some ground and are now 5-5 in their last 10 games. A 61-89 record is nothing to be proud of, but finding success against an opponent who seemingly has your number is. After Thursday's win, manager Mike Matheny praised his bunch for being able to fight.
"[I'm] really impressed with how the guys just continued, Matheny said. "And we talk about it a lot — what's the aim? The aim is always the win, that's why we play, but you see it when you put a couple of wins together against teams that you haven't had success with before... you can see how that confidence just starts to swell. You feel it, you sense it, and then it just breeds more high expectations."
One of the driving forces behind the Royals' key win was starting pitcher Jonathan Heasley. Heasley, who has had stretches of stellar play and immense struggle alike in 2022, tossed six innings of one-run baseball while also giving up just a pair of hits in the process. He also became just the eighth Royals pitcher ever to record back-to-back starts of six innings and two or fewer hits allowed. The velocity on his fastball was ticking up a bit, which was something he attributed to more comfort on the mound. Matheny noticed the subtle improvements, citing it as something that is rare to run into near the end of the season.
"I thought overall, he just built off of what he did last time. [The] curveball continues to be really good, the changeup was good. He threw some really sharp, high-riding fastballs with more vert (vertical movement) than we've even seen, which is strange at this point of the year where he can get that kind of life. I do believe that there's something that he's found as they've worked at finding that foundation. That's allowing him to get through his pitches."
After Heasley's six innings, a lengthy start for his standards, the Royals turned things over to a somewhat shorthanded bullpen to seal the deal. Despite Kansas City running low on arms, the trio of Collin Snider, Carlos Hernandez and Brad Keller buckled down and combined to pitch three innings of hitless, four-strikeout baseball and allow just one walk between the three of them.
Hernandez and Keller, specifically, are beginning to adjust to new roles after beginning the 2022 season in the starting rotation. Hernandez's struggles throughout the year have been obvious, and Keller got off to a blazing start to the season but then hit a wall weeks ago and is just now starting to find his footing as a relief option. Hernandez earned his first hold of the season for his efforts, and Keller notched his first ever save as well. Matheny, who knows it's been difficult for multiple members of his new-look bullpen, is thrilled with how things panned out.
"Well today, it was special in the fact that we just used a new cast of characters," Matheny said. "Collin (Snider) has been throwing, but to be able to include Carlos (Hernandez) and Brad (Keller) — we had four guys down today [at the] cost of chasing two wins in the last two days — giving the ball to a couple of other guys, 'Hey, we need you to get the job done.'
On Friday, Kansas City remains at home and will be playing host to the Seattle Mariners. Seattle, a playoff hopeful, will be looking to sweep an inferior opponent whereas the Royals have a true chance to play spoiler as the season winds down. Although playoff contention is out of the question for Kansas City, the team is still scrapping in an effort to keep momentum rolling heading into the offseason.
