Edinson Volquez finishes Game 1 gem with incredible 37-pitch inning, mentions he felt 'sexy'
Volquez pitches 2-hit gem, has interesting reason why
Heading into Game 1 of the ALCS, Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez was 0-3 in his three career postseason starts. In those starts -- which included a Game 3 loss in this season's ALDS to the Astros -- Volquez pitched a combined 12 1/3 innings, struck out 11 batters, issued nine walks and surrendered 12 earned runs.
But now, that's "Mr. Big Game" Edinson Volquez, to you. The Royals' righty brought his A-Game (and his 97-mph fastball) on Friday and tossed six incredible innings against the Blue Jays -- one of MLB's best lineups -- in Game 1 of the ALCS.
Volquez gave up two hits and walked four batters, but most of his night went something like this:
If his first five innings didn't have you on the edge of your seat, he made up for it when his sixth frame had you breathing into a paper bag. AL MVP hopeful Josh Donaldson led off the frame by taking Volquez to a full count before drawing a walk. ALDS hero Jose Bautista followed suit, also working the count full before drawing a base on balls. In full bend-but-don't-break fashion, Volquez battled back, sandwiching a Chris Colabello lineout between determined strikeouts of Edwin Encarnacion and Troy Tulowitzki:
All told, that sixth frame featured Volquez using 37 pitches to go through four full counts while sneaking past the Blue Jays' 2-6 hitters, who combined for 709 regular-season hits and 152 regular-season home runs.
Maybe "Big Inning" Volquez is a better fit.
His final line looked like this: 6 IP, 2 H, 4 BB, 0 ER, 6 SO on 111 pitches. And after the game, he mentioned to reporters why he had so much success matching up with Toronto hitters (check it out at the :37 mark):
As good a reason as any.
Kelvin Herrera, Ryan Madson and Luke Hochevar followed Volquez's start with shutout innings of their own, lifting the Royals to a 5-0 win and a crucial 1-0 series lead.
David Price and Yordano Ventura will start Game 2 for the Jays and Royals respectively on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET on FS1 and SNET.