Royals still buzzing about Moustakas' throw

ST. LOUIS -- If there were any "Mooooooose!" calls in Busch Stadium at the end of the Royals' 3-2 win on Friday night, they were drowned out by the collective groan of a full house of Cardinals fans when Mike Moustakas' throw ended the game.

Royals manager Ned Yost was even more impressed by Moustakas' game-saving throw after reviewing the video on Saturday morning.

"Until I saw the replay, I didn't realize how dynamic that throw was," Yost said.

The play came as the Cardinals' Tyler Greene, after sliding into second base and third, headed home while the overthrown ball -- as the pursuing Moustakas recalled it -- bounced off a post next to an opening on the third-base dugout, ricocheted onto a second post and rebounded back to him.

"I thought those two posts were closer together," Moustakas said, examining the several-inch gap on Saturday morning.

Anyway, the ball stayed out of the dugout, was still live as Moustakas grabbed it, wheeled and threw to catcher Humberto Quintero.

"It didn't take a perfect tag, because the throw put him in a position to make the tag. So it all revolved around the throw, and I didn't realize how great the throw was until I watched it on replay today," Yost said. "I mean, Q didn't have to move. He caught the ball and it was right there. If he'd have had to reach for it and come back, [Greene] would have been safe. So the off-balance throw that [Moustakas] made and put it in a perfect spot to make the tag with the throw was a tremendous play."

In the aftermath, some Cardinals players were calling for expansion of instant replay reviews, certain that Quintero's tag was either late or missed entirely. If that had been the case, the umpires might have been up half the night trying to figure that one out. Home-plate umpire Alan Porter's call was immediate and emphatic, and the replays looked rather inconclusive.

"We were due a break like that," Yost said.