KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez carried the Royals back to the postseason for the first time in nearly a decade, a whirlwind turnaround from 106-loss club to a team playing for a spot in the American League Championship Series.
They fell just shy in large part due to that trio's collective struggles at the plate against the New York Yankees.
Witt, Pasquantino and Perez were a combined 6 for 49 in their AL Division Series, coming up short when the Royals desperately needed a big hit. That was especially evident in Game 4 on Thursday night, when Perez's popout ended their only real rally in the sixth inning, and Pasquantino and Perez struck out in the ninth as the Yankees finished off their 3-1 victory.
“It's tough. It's not really what you want,” Witt said. “It feels like you let a lot of people down when you do things like this, but that's part of the game. It's something that will light a torch in you, and leave a bad taste in your mouth for the future.”
New York will play Cleveland or Detroit in the ALCS beginning Monday night at Yankee Stadium.
“Yeah, I’ve got to be honest with you, the Royals are a damn good ballclub. That was a really tough series,” Yankees starter Gerrit Cole said. “In terms of Witt specifically, certainly had a little bit of bad luck, hit some balls on the screws and took some — it took a lot of good pitches to keep him in check. That’s just a testament to how great of a player he is."
Now, the Royals will begin thinking about next season, and what it will take to energize an offense that struggled mightily to score down the stretch. Kansas City lost 6-5 to the Yankees in Game 1, then scored five runs total over the next three games, a big reason why the Royals didn't win a home game after Sept. 8, losing nine straight including the playoffs.
“They battled their butts off, man. They gave everything they had,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro siad. “You’ve got to tip your cap; they beat us. But it wasn’t for lack of effort, wasn’t for lack of desire or any of that kind of stuff. They put it all out there.”
The sudden freeze by the Royals' best hitters was striking given what Witt, Pasquantino and Perez did during the season.
Witt hit .332 to win the AL batting title and had 32 homers to go with a team-best 109 RBIs. Perez hit 27 homers and had 104 RBIs. Pasquantino was on pace to give Kansas City three sluggers with 100 or more RBIs before breaking his thumb on a fluke play late in the season, an injury that healed enough in time to serve as the designated hitter in the playoffs.
Witt went 1 for 4 on Thursday night, his lone hit turning into the Royals' only run on Pasquantino's double in the sixth. But the biggest rival to the Yankees' Aaron Judge for AL MVP, Witt still finished just 2 for 17 at the plate in the series, after he had driven both of the decisive runs in the Royals' two-game sweep of Baltimore in the wild-card round.
“It's part of baseball,” Witt said. “Sometimes you hit right at ‘em, sometimes you don’t. It's just the game.”
Pasquantino's run-scoring double? That ended an 0-for-14 stretch over the first three games of the series.
Then there was Perez, whose clutch play in 2014 and '15 helped the Royals win back-to-back AL pennants and capture their first World Series title in three decades. Perez had three hits against New York coming into Thursday night, but he flied out leading off the second, popped out to end the fourth, and popped out again after the Royals finally scored in the sixth inning.
“You know, I tried to help my team win every day. You guys know that,” Perez said. “I missed a couple opportunities even today with Pasquantino at second base. That's going to happen. Good things are going to happen, bad things are going to happen.”
In the ninth, Pasquantino and Perez both struck out before Yuli Gurriel flied out against Yankees reliever Clay Holmes, who was part of a masterful New York bullpen that has not allowed a run over 15 2/3 innings of the postseason.
“They’ve got a lot of gamers over there, starting with their leader Salvy, a guy that’s won a World Series, been a World Series MVP, comes up clutch so many times for them," the Yankees' Aaron Judge said. "And then the young star for them — Bobby Witt — who had an incredible season and continues just to impress I feel like the baseball world every single day with what he can do.
“You go back to that first game where we had four, five, six lead changes back and forth. There’s just no fear in them and just a lot of fight," Judge added. "Definitely going to be a lot of battles with them for years to come.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez watches from the dugout during the fifth inning in Game 4 of an American League Division baseball playoff series against the New York Yankees Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kansas City Royals' Vinnie Pasquantino follows through on an BRI double during the sixth inning in Game 4 of an American League Division baseball playoff series against the New York Yankees Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
New York Yankees' Anthony Volpe (11) is out at second as Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) is unable to turn the double play during the fifth inning in Game 4 of an American League Division baseball playoff series Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. The Yankees' Alex Verdugo was safe at first. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Kansas City Royals' Bobby Witt Jr. (7) is congratulated by teammate Salvador Perez (13) after scoring during the sixth inning in Game 4 of an American League Division baseball playoff series against the New York Yankees Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
NEW YORK (AP) — Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve has seen a lot in her incredible career that has included four WNBA championships.
The historic rally by the Lynx to beat New York 95-93 in a wild Game 1 of the WNBA Finals ranks right up there as one of the best moments.
“We’re the first team in WNBA playoff history to be down 15 (in the final 5 minutes) and come back and win the game,” Reeve said. “So that ranks really high. I think it defines our team. Getting through difficult times. That’s what we’ve been talking about. You have to be mentally tough, resilient. ... Thrilled that we could hang in there.”
Minnesota rallied from 18 points down in the first half and Napheesa Collier's turnaround jumper with 8.8 seconds left in overtime lifted the team to the win over the New York Liberty on Thursday night.
With the game tied, Collier faked in the lane and scored. New York had a chance to tie it but Breanna Stewart’s layup at the buzzer was off.
"The basketball gods were on our side tonight," said Courtney Williams, who had 23 points, including a four-point play with 5.5 seconds left in regulation, to lead Minnesota.
Collier finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and three steals.
Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Sunday in New York. Before the game, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced that the league is expanding the Finals to best-of-seven starting next year.
The OT got off to a slow start before Minnesota built an 88-84 advantage as New York missed its first six shots. Jonquel Jones finally got the Liberty on the board with a corner 3-pointer with 1:38 left. Williams answered with her own 3-pointer and the teams traded baskets over the next minute. Sabrina Ionescu's steal in the backcourt and layup got New York within 93-91 with 32.9 left.
Jones then stole the ball at midcourt and scored to tie it four seconds later. Minnesota worked the clock down before Collier's basket broke the tie.
The Liberty blew an 11-point lead in the final 3:23 of regulation when Minnesota scored 12 straight points, capped by Williams’ four-point play.
The Liberty made the most of the last few seconds. After Stewart’s first shot was blocked with a second left and went out of bounds, Ionescu inbounded the ball to her under the basket and she was fouled. The officials reviewed the play to see if the foul occurred before the buzzer sounded and deemed that it did awarding Stewart two free throws with 0.8 seconds left.
She hit the first of two free throws with the second one rolling off the rim. Williams’ shot on the other end was off and the game headed to OT.
“We just take it on the chin, you know. We were up a lot and then we had a wild kind of sequence to end the fourth,” Stewart said. “Didn’t start overtime great. I had a great look at the end and I didn’t make it. But I think that this is a series. We wanted to really win, obviously, for home court. But the beauty is, we have another game on Sunday and we’ll be ready.”
Jones led New York with 24 points and 10 rebounds. Ionescu finished with 19 and Stewart had 18.
New York came right at Minnesota, which was playing just two days after beating Connecticut in the semifinals. The Liberty built an 18-point lead in the first half before the Lynx rallied.
The 18-point rally tied the New York Liberty’s record they set in 1999 in Game 2 of the Finals that ended with Teresa Weatherspoon’s historic halfcourt shot.
Both teams are looking to make history in this series. The Liberty are looking for the franchise’s first championship while the Lynx are vying for a league-record fifth. They were the best teams during the regular season, finishing in the top two spots in the standings.
New York is in the finals for the second consecutive year and is hoping to erase the scar of losing to the Las Vegas Aces in 2023. Minnesota is making its first appearance in the championship round since 2017, when the team won its fourth title in a seven-year span.
The Liberty had lost two of the three regular-season meetings to Minnesota and the Commissioner’s Cup championship, but both teams have said that those games didn’t really matter heading into the championship.
The Lynx were able to hold Jones in check in all three of the wins with the Liberty’s star center scoring in single digits each time. She reached double figures by the end of the first quarter on Thursday.
Minnesota held New York to 38% shooting and improved to 181-11 since 2011 when the team holds an opponent under 40% shooting.
The star-studded New York crowd of 17,732 was loud and spirited as it has been all season. Spike Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Meek Mill and New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos were all in attendance. Lee was wearing an Ionescu jersey.
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Spike Lee watches the first half of Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Mets third baseman Mark Vientos watches the first half of Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart shoots the ball during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series against the Minnesota Lynx, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Minnesota Lynx's Courtney Williams dribbles during the second half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series against the New York Liberty, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Minnesota Lynx's Natisha Hiedeman, left, dribbles against New York Liberty's Courtney Vandersloot, right, during the second half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
From left, Minnesota Lynx's Bridget Carleton, Courtney Williams, Alanna Smith and Napheesa Collier celebrate after defeating the New York Liberty in overtime in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
From left, Minnesota Lynx's Bridget Carleton, Napheesa Collier, Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams celebrate after defeating the New York Liberty in overtime in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, center, goes up for a shot as Connecticut Sun forward DeWanna Bonner (24) and guard DiJonai Carrington (21) defend during the second half of Game 5 of a WNBA basketball semifinals, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
New York Liberty's Courtney Vandersloot, right, drives for the basket against Minnesota Lynx's Courtney Williams, left, during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Minnesota Lynx's Bridget Carleton, right, dribbles the ball against New York Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu, left, during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Liberty's Jonquel Jones, left, attempts to score against Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier (24) during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
New York Liberty's Sabrina Ionescu (20) reacts after scoring during the first half in Game 1 of a WNBA basketball final playoff series against the Minnesota Lynx, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, center, celebrates with teammates after the 88-77 win against the Connecticut Sun of Game 5 of a WNBA basketball semifinals, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
