Astros closer Ryan Pressly was ejected with two outs in the ninth after questioning...
The Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez celebrates his two-run home run with teammate Bobby Witt Jr. during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Houston Astros, Sunday, June 5, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo. KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The baseball arrived at a place only Yordan Alvarez can put it, on a deck beneath a bar in this sea of empty royal blue seats. His home runs routinely render spectators silent. Teammates turn to one another in awe.
Opponents with a good lefthanded reliever in their bullpen could neutralize the two men and feel no consequence. Putting a righthanded hitter between them allows the Astros at least one advantageous platoon matchup. Throughout this road trip, Baker balked at dropping Gurriel in the batting order. In Seattle, the skipper chuckled at the suggestion of swapping Gurriel with seven-hole hitter Jeremy Peña. General manager James Click reiterated the organization’s confidence in Gurriel this week, too.
Sunday afforded Baker a perfect opportunity to tinker. Kansas City has no lefthanders in its bullpen. Baker acknowledged Gurriel has been “struggling some.” He called the lineup construction an “easy decision.” The results reflected it.