Ned Yost stuck to his scheduled rotation rather than forcing James Shields in after a rainout, and was rewarded with a W. Let's give him appropriate credit!
The Royals defeated the Orioles 2-1 in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, and now find themselves one win away from the World Series for the first time since 1985. That alone is reason to celebrate, but how the Royals managed to win the third game also merits not only attention, but praise. Manager Ned Yost doesn't legitimately earn many compliments unless they're of the backhanded variety, so let's stop for a moment and give him credit where it's due for the playoff rotation he didn't change when he had the opportunity to do so.
Monday's rainout gave Yost the chance to shuffle his rotation around to pitch Royals' ace James Shields on short rest if he wanted to. He decided against that, and instead went with the scheduled starter, Jeremy Guthrie, for his first-ever playoff start -- to top it off, it came against Guthrie's former team, which during his five years in Baltimore was one of the more pathetic clubs in the game. Guthrie might not be as good of a starter as he was during his prime on the Orioles, but he's still more than capable, and he limited a productive lineup to just one run over 94 pitches and five innings before the bullpen took over.
The Kansas City pen threw four innings in relief of Guthrie, but didn't have to labor particularly hard in them: Jason Frasor threw 11 pitches, Kelvin Herrera 14, Wade Davis 13, and Greg Holland just six. Combined, this foursome even managed to throw strikes over 70 percent of the time, and this kind of efficiency means they're likely all available again for use on Wednesday in what could be the decisive game of the series.
Yost went to Guthrie instead of making a panic move to Shields because the Royals were in a position where panic could wait. He was rewarded for leaving his plans alone when given the opportunity to tinker, and could find himself with a similar reward on Wednesday when Jason Vargas takes the mound in Game 4, as he was always scheduled to do. Before Game 3, Yost explained that he wanted Shields to get an extra day of rest where he was able to give him one, and that makes sense: Shields led the American League with 34 starts in 2014 while throwing 227 innings, and his next playoff start will be his fourth of this October. The Royals haven't officially punched their ticket to the World Series, but even before winning Game 3, they were in a good place, as no team had ever come back down from 2-0 in an LCS round after losing the first two games at home as the Orioles did. Saving the bullets Shields has left for when they are absolutely necessary makes all the sense in the world, especially when the duo of Guthrie and Vargas, while not unstoppable by any means, are certainly capable of outings like Tuesday's.
Giving Shields an extra day also gives rookie right-hander Yordano Ventura a much-needed break from action. Ventura was lifted from Game 2 with shoulder tightness, and while it's not considered a serious injury, an extra day of rest couldn't hurt. When you consider the Royals have two chances to win the series before Ventura is even scheduled to pitch on Friday, Yost might even have helped him earn a few more days for his shoulder to heal itself, as Game 1 of the World Series isn't happening until October 21, a week from today. The best-case scenario for the Royals is winning Game 4 and giving everyone a break for almost a week, but even if it takes Game 5 to get there, keeping the rotation as it was originally planned to be will be worth it for the extended Ventura reprieve alone.
Jason Vargas is in about as pressure-free of a situation as a starter can be in during the playoffs, as his team is up 3-0 with their ace going the next day if necessary. The Royals earned at least one extra day of rest for two starters who could likely use it, and didn't drop a game to the Orioles in the process. Again, it feels odd to do, but give Yost credit for his managing here. He kept his team in a situation where they could realistically win in order to improve their chances later on in not just this series but the one that's now looming, and the Royals even helped him along by seizing that opportunity. There is still one more game to win before this thing is over, but the Royals are in as good of a position to get it done as they've ever been.