The Arizona Diamondbacks drilled the Kansas City Royals by a score of 14-2 on Sunday afternoon, with Jeremy Hazelbaker smacking a three-run homer in the fifth inning and Ildelmaro Vargas driving in four runs.
The Diamondbacks, winners of the #1 wild card seed in the National League, will host the Colorado Rockies in the NL’s wild-card game on Wednesday night at 7 o’clock, with the winner advancing to play the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers in a best-of-five NL Division Series, starting Friday night at Dodger Stadium.
The Sunday afternoon game was played with emotions high for the Royals and their legion of fans, as Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, and Alcides Escobar played what could be their final games for the franchise, as all four, key cogs on the 2014 American League champions and 2015 World Champion teams become free agents this off-season. The foursome were pulled out of the game together by Manager Ned Yost in the fifth inning, showing a loud standing ovation from the Kauffman Stadium crowd.
Hosmer matched his career high with his 25th home run, hit in the bottom of the 1st inning. The Diamondbacks scored 10 runs combined over the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to turn the final game of the season into a laugher. The Royals finished the 2017 season at 80-82, five games behind the Minnesota Twins, who claimed the American League’s second wild card spot, and play in New York City against the Yankees on Tuesday night.
Photo credit – Charlie Riedel / Associated Press / Kansas City, MO
