Royals complete sweep into World Series

If a movie is to be made of the incredible saga of the 2014 Kansas City Royals, the role of Ned Yost would have to be played by an actor like Steve Carell, someone adept at playing a bumbling idiot.

“Kansas City and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Manager” would stretch across the marquee, and critics all over would howl at the hokey ending.

But in this case, truth is stranger than fiction.

Yost’s rise from piñata to pennant-winning manager has played out in front of a disbelieving TV audience over the last two weeks, culminating in a shocking sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in the American League Championship Series.

After Wednesday’s 2-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium vaulted the Royals into the World Series after a 29-year postseason drought, Yost scoffed at the idea he was vindicated for years worth of head-scratching decisions.

“I don’t need validation, man,” Yost said. “I’m real comfortable with myself. I get criticized all the time. I’m the dumbest manager in baseball. I’m OK with that because I have really smart coaches.

“I know who I am, and I know what I’m about. I just wanted this for our fans, and I wanted this for our players.”

The Royals became the first team in history with a perfect 8-0 start to the postseason, surpassing the 1976 Reds and 2007 Rockies. They have won 11 consecutive postseason games dating back to Game 5 of the 1985 World Series, one shy of the Yankees’ all-time record they recorded twice.

With a roster full of no-names and back-to-back series against the heavily favored Angels and Orioles, this was a scenario so implausible even Nostradamus couldn’t have predicted it.

“I never envisioned that,” Yost said. “How can you envision that? It was a tough series, even though it looked like it was easy. Both series were extremely tough.”

Outfielder Lorenzo Cain, who hit .533 and made some defensive gems in center and right fields, was named the series’ most valuable player. But there were plenty of candidates to choose from, including first baseman Eric Hosmer, who hit .400, the untouchable bullpen and third baseman Mike Moustakas, the human version of a Dirt Devil.

The series-clinching triumph followed the same blueprint of the other games, with the Royals’ defense leading the charge and the late-inning relief trio of Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland slamming the door shut.

The Royals scored two runs in the first off Orioles’ starter Miguel Gonzalez on an infield hit, a hit by pitch, a Cain sacrifice bunt and a Hosmer grounder to first. Steve Pearce threw home on Hosmer’s grounder, and Alicides Escobar’s slide knocked the ball out of catcher Nick Hundley’s glove, with Nori Aoki easily scoring from second with the second run.

With a one-run lead in the fifth, Alex Gordon made a running grab of a J.J. Hardy shot in left, crashed into the outfield fence and collapsed onto the warning track, the latest in a series of highlight-reel catches the Royals have made.

“I’ve never seen a left fielder completely change games around like Gordon does,” coach Dale Sveum said. “I’ve never been around any outfield like this.”

Starter Jason Vargas gave up one run over 5 1/3 innings before being lifted in the sixth. None of the four Royals starters lasted six full innings in the series, but it mattered little.

To say no one saw this coming is an understatement. After losing to the Chicago White Sox on July 21, the Royals were 48-50. But they posted a .641 winning percentage (41-23) the rest of the way to earn the wild-card berth, then rode that momentum to the World Series.

After the Royals came home with a 2-0 ALCS lead, outfielder Jarrod Dyson said they wouldn’t be going back to Baltimore, inserting himself into the middle of a media storm. As he left the field for the champagne spraying, Dyson said to first base coach Rusty Kuntz: “I’m off the hook with that interview now.”

Kuntz smiled and replied: “Well, you backed it up.”

The word “Zoom” had been etched into Dyson’s hair by his barber, a fitting description of what the Royals have done this October.

It has been quite a wild ride for these Royals, and it isn’t over yet.

psullivan@chicagotribune.com