Royals third base coach happy to send Lorenzo Cain on his way home
Royals third-base coach Mike Jirschele stayed alert and was ready to send Cain to the plate when outfielder Carlos Gomez of the Astros fell down during a key moment in ALDS Game 5.
By
Dave Brown
•
3 min read
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- This time, there was no stopping Royals third base coach Mike Jirschele, who was going to send the runner no matter what. With speedy Lorenzo Cain hustling all of the way, and with Astros outfielder Carlos Gomez trying to make a throw from his derrière after falling down, the Royals were taking advantage of their first big break in Game 5 of the ALDS.
Cain scored from first base on a single by Eric Hosmer, putting the Royals on the board in the fourth inning, and they were on their way to a 7-2 victory at Kauffman Stadium that ended Houston's storybook season and put Kansas City in the ALCS for the second straight year.
The circumstances were a little different than in the ninth inning of Game 7 the 2014 World Series, when Jirschele stopped Alex Gordon at third base, rather then sending him home after his hit skipped by Giants outfielder Gregor Blanco and rolled to the fence in center. Had he been sent, Gordon probably would have been out by 20 feet at home plate after a relay, but it's always going to be one of those great "What if's?" in Royals and World Series history because he represented the tying run. It's a moment that has been replayed in Kansas City-- even re-created a few times -- ad nauseam.
"I’m glad we’re not talking about Gordon anymore," Jirschele said, unprompted, though he seemed to know what people were thinking.
Cain's mad dash from first, which took 9.3 seconds according to Major League Baseball's Statcast tracking technology, won't be scrutinized in the same way. It required three simple elements: Cain's speed and hustle, Gomez's bad luck and Jirschele being on the ball.
"I’m giving all of the credit to Lorenzo because he was coming into third full speed right there," Jirschele said. "I’m just watching how Gomez fields the ball right there. If he secures the ball, and he’s on his feet, I can’t send him. But as soon as I saw him slip, and he wasn’t in a big rush to get up, I said, ‘I’m sending him.’ I give all of the credit to Lorenzo there. He made it an easy call for me."
Cain said he trusts Jirschele, but he had no idea what was motivating his coach to keep swinging his arm. As he's supposed to do, Cain wasn't looking back at the play, he was keeping his eyes on Jirschele.
"When I saw Jirsh waving me, I was kind of confused at first," Cain said. "But I said, ‘He’s our guy.’ He’s confident in the guys he’s sending. I just kept hustling, kept going, and ended up scoring easily."
Jirschele added: "They gotta trust me to make that call, and he did. He turned on the afterburners."
Astros manager A.J. Hinch said he could sense a change in atmosphere when Cain scored, and that Royals starter Johnny Cueto picked up on it going forward, as did the Royals lineup.
"Well, it got the crowd into it, when you score from first on a ball that goes 150 feet or so," Hinch said. "Once they got going a little bit, I thought Cueto pitched well to the crowd, and I thought that their hitters continued to put up quality at-bats, which we saw for five straight games. They're tough outs."
That was some turn-of-events broken-bat single by Hosmer. But it's moments like those that Jirschele lives for. He's known as a lifer, a guy who has been coaching (mostly in the minor leagues) for much of his life. The Royals swear by Jirschele, who managed a lot of them in the minors, as being an integral cog in their winning ways.
He just likes being a part of the team.
"I get so excited over there when I get the opportunity to make a call like that, because you feel like you’re a part of the game," Jirschele said.
The Cain outcome was a lot happier for the Royals than in '14. Gordon was stranded at third after Salvador Perez popped out, and the Giants won the World Series. Not that stopping Gordon has given Jirschele any regrets.
"I wasn’t down last year because I made the right call on that one," Jirschele said.
This time, Jirschele was much happier to be right. Again.
