Yost talks about use of no-doubles defense

September 14th, 2016

KANSAS CITY -- The hot topic around the Royals on Wednesday stemmed from a curious postgame comment from reliever on Tuesday night.
Soria entered the game Tuesday with the Royals holding a one-run lead and runners on first and second. He proceeded to blow his seventh save of the season on a two-run double by Oakland's , a shot that soared over center fielder 's head with two outs in the eighth inning of a 5-4 loss.
Afterward, Soria said, "The whole season has been weird. It's been different. Broken-bat hits. Today, it was probably supposed to be no-doubles defense and [Alonso] gets a double right to the middle of the field. Overall it's a weird season. It's tough to figure it out."

Soria seemingly implied that the Royals' defense wasn't properly aligned, or that specifically Dyson wasn't positioned correctly.
Not the case, insisted Royals manager Ned Yost.
"The defense was exactly where it was supposed to be," Yost said Wednesday. "We don't play 'no doubles' in that situation. We never will…
"We're not playing 'no doubles' with the tying run on second. We got three strong-armed outfielders out there with the tying run on second. You have nine times a ball will get hit in front of [the outfielders] and just one time it will get hit over their head."
The Royals generally only play no-doubles defense (an alignment with the outfielders positioned deep to cut off balls in the alley) on the road, when the tying run or winning run is at first or at the plate.
Yost indicated he would talk to Soria about the comments.
"Again, he's searching for answers," Yost said. "It's a struggle for him this season."