Vinnie Pasquantino All But Confirms Royals Are In Desperation Mode
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The prevailing emotion from the Kansas City Royals' win over the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday wasn't triumph. It was relief.
The Guardians owned the first two games of the series, and they were putting the Royals behind the eight-ball in the playoff picture. After climbing within two games of the Seattle Mariners for the third wild card spot over the weekend, the Royals found themselves four games back on Wednesday.
So a 4-3 victory at Progressive Field was extremely necessary for the Royals' fleeting playoff hopes, especially considering the Mariners and Texas Rangers both won. And Kansas City knows the hard work has only just begun.
Vinnie Pasquantino on Wednesday's win, Thursday's showdown
Kansas City first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino got to the 100-RBI mark for the first time in his career with a single that drove home Bobby Witt Jr., a milestone he said was meaningful to him even in the days of wRC+ and hard-hit metrics.
“We can argue about RBIs until we’re blue in the face, but they’re important to me,” Pasquantino said, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. “Being able to, selfishly, get to that number, it was something I really wanted to do this year. Doesn’t mean I’m going to take my foot off the gas. I’m not satisfied. But it is humbling.”
Upon securing the victory, Pasquantino felt relief, saying, "We needed that," per Rogers. But he knew Thursday's game was an even bigger one, with Kansas City still trailing Cleveland by half a game in the standings entering play.
“I guess I’m not supposed to talk about the standings, but it’s an important game tomorrow (Thursday),” Pasquantino said, per Rogers. “Try to get ahead of these guys, because they have the (head-to-head) tiebreaker on us. Anything we can do to keep them behind us would be great.”
Stephen Kolek takes the mound for the Royals in only his third start for the team on Thursday, and it's about as big a situation as it could be. First pitch from Cleveland is at 6:15 p.m. CT.
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Jackson Roberts is a former Division III All-Region DH who now writes and talks about sports for a living. A Bay Area native and a graduate of Swarthmore College and the Newhouse School at Syracuse University, Jackson makes his home in North Jersey. He grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, and Warriors, and he recently added the Devils to his sports fandom mosaic. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "Kansas City Royals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org
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