Kendrys Morales sets Royals record with 15 total bases in 10-3 victory over Tigers

DETROIT The big man watched the baseball land in right-center field at Comerica Park, and he decided to rumble. The speed of Kendrys Morales departed after he fractured his leg five years ago, so he hits triples about once every presidential election cycle. In the sixth inning of a 10-3 thrashing of the Tigers, Morales provided the Royals with a rarity to complement one of the most destructive offensive performances in franchise history.

Morales barreled into third base for his second triple of the season and his third since 2009. He scored soon after on a wild pitch. Two innings later, he hit his third home run of the day, which allowed him to set a team record with 15 total bases in one game.

As Morales hit balls to all fields, the Royals (87-62) breezed one step closer toward the American League Central title. The victory reduced their magic number to three. With Toronto falling to Boston earlier in the day, Kansas City expanded their lead in the standings for home-field advantage to two games.

Morales became the first Royal to hit three homers in a game since Danny Tartabull on July 6, 1991. It was the first three-homer game of his career. Morales broke George Brett’s record of 14 total bases set in 1979. The only other player to net 15 bases in one game in 2015 is Yoenis Cespedes, who pummeled the Rockies at Coors Field for the Mets on Aug. 23.

All three of Morales’ homers came with the bases empty. He victimized Tigers starter Alfredo Simon in the third and the fourth. He blitzed reliever Jeff Ferrell in the eighth.

The one-man barrage reduced the sting of an unsuccessful road trip. The Royals dropped four of six. They still have not won a series since the first week of September. But they continue to inch closer and closer to a clinching a playoff berth.

Kris Medlen sweated through five innings. The Tigers mounted a three-run flurry in the third inning. Medlen kept them scoreless otherwise. All three runs were unearned, but Medlen still dealt with extended at-bats. He exited after 97 pitches.

During the first two innings, the Royals scored twice but committed a pair of base-running gaffes. In the first, Ben Zobrist led off with a double and took second on a single by Lorenzo Cain. After Eric Hosmer stepped into the box, Tigers starter Alfredo Simon caught Cain napping and started a rundown that ended in an out. Hosmer soon plated Zobrist with a sacrifice fly.

Morales followed with a two-out walk. He barreled into third on a single by Mike Moustakas. Another single by Alex Rios, who extended his hitting streak to 10 games, brought Morales home.

An inning later, Hosmer singled with runners at first and second. Third-base coach Mike Jirschele stopped Christian Colon at third. The signal did not cross the radar of Zobrist, the trail runner. He drifted too far toward third base. With Zobrist caught in a rundown, Colon tried to sneak home. He was thrown out.

At last, in the third, the Royals devised a strategy that could offset the base-running blunders: Hit the baseball over the fence. Morales wrapped a solo shot around the right-field pole to start the inning.

Rios roped another single two batters later. He set the table for Orlando. Across 10 years and 1,058 games in the minors, Orlando had hit only 66 home runs. He had not hit more than six in a season since 2010, when he played for Class AA Northwest Arkansas. Now, in his first big-league campaign, Orlando unloaded on a thigh-high curveball for his seventh homer of the year.

Even after the homers, the Royals managed to make another mistake with their legs. Simon picked off Colon for the inning’s second out. The troubles continued for Colon in the bottom of the frame. He fumbled a groundball that led to a trio of unearned runs.

The error occurred after Medlen walked leadoff hitter Anthony Gose. Soon after, Miguel Cabrera drove Gose home with a single. Victor Martinez and Nick Castellanos added RBI singles of their own to complete the rally.

The lead fell to two. It would never be that close again. In the fourth, Morales attacked a 95-mph fastball and powered it to left for an opposite-field solo shot. He achieved his 14th multi-homer game in his career.

Colon atoned with his bat in the fifth. After Orlando doubled, Colon booted Simon from the game with an RBI double of his own. Colon was en route to the first four-hit game of his career. He scored two batters later on a single by Zobrist.

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