Royals clinch playoff spot with 4-3 victory in Atlanta

These 2024 Royals saved the best for last in this thrilling affair.

If there’s anything that these 2024 Royals have taught us, it’s to never doubt this team full of youngsters. After the MVP favorite Ronald Acuna hit a moon shot to left field to chase Cole Ragans, in an otherwise brilliant pitching performance, many wondered if it just wasn’t meant to be for this team. A team that had fought its way through a season in which no one expected them to be here, to be relevant, much less be relevant and be alive for a playoff berth during the final series of the year. It was easy to expect that this Royals team wouldn’t be able to finish the job.

Sure, there had been some great moments throughout the year, Bobby Witt jr. ascended to superstar status with his 40-40 season, the first in Royals history. Vinnie Pasquantino broke Mike Sweeneys single season record of 144 RBIs in a season, a record many thought would never be touched. Cole Ragans and Daniel Lynch, of all people, led the Royals to having an AL-best 3.40 team ERA. There were many reasons to believe that this team was improved, their record of 20-7 in August catapulted them to the top of the AL Central and there was legitimate hope throughout the fanbase. Maybe this team really is good? Maybe this really was going to be 2014 all over again and this team was going to go on another improbable run, just as the team led by the Hosmer’s and Moustakas’ did a decade before.

But when the Braves superstar hit that homerun off the Royals ace to make the score 4-3 Braves, the doubt started to creep in again. Dang, was this team really going to come this close, and not be able to finish the job? Was Cole Ragans’ entire 2024 season, in which he led the AL with 19 wins and 5.1 WAR, just a mirage and everything was going to come crashing down? Was this as close as this team was going to get? Royal’s fans know these opportunities don’t come along often, to see the season end this close to the promised land, after the Minnesota Twins had blown an improbable lead of 4 games in the AL Central over the last 10 days, were the Royals not going to take advantage and fall in the final game of the season against the Atlanta Braves?

And then, MJ Melendez stepped to the plate.

It’s been a tough season for MJ Melendez, he had a great start to the season, hitting 15 home runs in the Royals first 50 games of the season, but then missed time in June with a groin strain, and ultimately lost his starting spot in right field with the continued emergence of Nelson Velasquez. Many wondered if MJ had fallen out of favor with the Royals, he still is not a great defender and strikes out at an above average clip, was he going to ultimately be traded in the offseason to help restock the still-baren farm system? Was he going to finish his career as nothing more than a bench-bat with some pop?

Well, after Vinnie Pasquantino was pulled in the 8th inning for a pinch runner, Matt Quatraro was left with one player on his bench that he knew had the power to send the Royals to the post season for the first time since 2015.

It was the top of the 9th inning; and the three previous Royals had all reached base. First, a single by Bobby Witt Jr., followed by a walk by Pasquantino, and finally a walk from Hunter Renfroe. The Braves closer Tyler Matzek had struggled to start the inning allowing these three to all reach base, but he then struck out Salvador Perez and Michael Massey to put all the pressure firmly back on the Royals. The Braves of course, had already locked up the NL-East and the #1 seed in the National League playoffs, and had virtually nothing to play for, other than to grab a home win during the last series of the regular season and spoil it for Kansas City.

With the count full, and the season on the line with the Royals trailing 4-3, it was all going to come down to this.

After the game, MJ said that he knew Matzek tends to always throw high and inside with the count full, typically coaxing hitters into swinging right of the top of the pitch and striking out. A strikeout here would end the game, and the Royals season. However, MJ also knew that Matzek had thrown three straight curveballs, trying to get Melendez off balance and see if he would get greedy and try to hit a bad pitch. Melendez knew a fastball was coming, and if it was anywhere close to the plate, he was swinging.

When the ball left the bat, MJ knew it was gone. They did it. Of course, there was still the bottom of the 9th inning and Braves would have a chance, but you could tell that once the Royals took a 7-4 lead off a 430-foot grand slam, this game was over. Brady Singer, who started the season in the starting rotation but was ultimately moved to the bullpen, with stellar results, slammed the door shut with three straight strikeouts to end the game and clinch the division for the Royals. The celebration had begun. Your Kansas City Royals are 2024 AL-Central champions.

On a night many Royals fans will never forget, this team proved that you could believe again. This team proved that it doesn’t always have to be pretty, that it isn’t always going to be easy, that you never know who is going to come through when it matters most, and most importantly that Kansas City believes in the Royals again.