Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino Has Relatable Yankees, Red Sox Admission
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Vinnie Pasquantino can do no wrong these days with a bat in his hands.
For the fourth game in a row, Pasquantino delivered a home run against the Texas Rangers on Thursday. He's up to 25 on the season, easily a new career-high, and is in good shape to hit the 30 mark that Royals fans have always known he was capable of surpassing.
Plus, the Royals got themselves a key win over the Rangers to move to 66-62. They're within two games of a potential playoff berth entering play on Friday, and they're chasing some of the giants in the American League.
Royals trying to hunt down Yankees, Red Sox, Mariners
As the Royals prepare to head to Detroit and then Chicago for a crucial road trip, they know they have to run down at least one of the three wild card teams in front of them: the New York Yankees (69-58), the Boston Red Sox (69-59), or the Seattle Mariners (68-60).
Pasquantino even admitted Thursday that he's doing a bit of scoreboard watching these days. It's hard not to do so, when every win or loss from an opponent has a major impact on the Royals' chances of mounting what was once an improbable comeback.
“Maybe a little,” Pasquantino said, per Robert Falkoff of MLB.com. “But it doesn’t affect how I prepare. It’s fun to be a part of. You get to be a fan. Or a hater.”
It works to the Royals' detriment that they already lost their season series against the Yankees (0-6) and Red Sox (2-4). They split their first series of the season against the Mariners 2-2, so the three-game series from Sept. 16-18 in Kansas City is about as big as it gets.
Pasquantino will be ready for the Mariners' pitchers by then. He's ready for any arm you can put on the mound in front of him these days. And the Royals, who have finally started hitting more home runs as a team, are feeding off his energy in the middle of their lineup.
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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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