To the best of anyone’s knowledge, Buddy Bell doesn’t own or use a magic wand and he isn’t a card-carrying miracle worker. But whatever he is doing as manager of the Kansas City Royals, it is working.
After blowing a 2-0 lead, the Royals bounced back to beat the Dodgers 9-6 and earn a three-game sweep. Matt Stairs’ sacrifice fly RBI in the first and Alberto Castillo’s RBI single in the second inning gave Kansas City a 2-0 lead.
The Dodgers scored a run in the third thanks to Olmedo Saenz, who singled in a run. Jason Grabowski hit a two-run homer off Royals’ starter Zack Greinke to give the Dodgers a 3-2 lead in the fourth inning.
It remained 3-2 until the sixth, when the Royals exploded for six runs. The first run scored when Emil Brown reached thanks to an error by Dodgers’ shortstop Antonio Perez. Terrence Long then loaded the bases with a single. Shane Costa, Mark Teahen, Alberto Castillo and Ruben Gotay all drove in runs consecutively with base hits to make it 8-3, Royals. Costa, Teahen and Gotay singled in a run apiece with singles, while Castillo knocked in two with a double.
Long drove in a run with a single in the seventh make it a six-run advantage for Kansas City.
Reliever Jeremy Affeldt worked around two walks a double, a wild pitch and three runs to get the save. Mike Wood (3-2) got the win in two innings of one-hit relief.
Royals manager Buddy Bell has done something no one has ever done since the start of interleague play in 1997: He has swept both the Yankees and Dodgers in three-game series in the same season. He’s now 11-4 as the Royals skipper and has led them to four series victories in five tries.
More tests will be run on Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney, but it looks like his sprained left elbow and wrist isn’t serious and he won’t go on the disabled list. Sweeney ran into Jason Werth on the base path Wednesday night in the fourth inning and left the game. He’s day-to-day.
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