Bullpen of the Week: Relievers stoke red-hot Royals

Forget about the defending World Series champion Royals? Do so at your own peril.

Kansas City is as hot as any team in baseball after extending its win streak to eight games with a 2-1 victory over the Twins on Sunday. The Royals’ 9-1 run over their last 10 games has them just 3 1/2 games back of Baltimore for the second American League Wild Card spot, which is remarkable given that they sat 9 1/2 games out on Aug. 6.

What’s behind the Royals’ run? One can’t overlook the team’s completely reinvigorated starting rotation, which has allowed no more than one earned run in six of the team’s last eight games and posted a sterling 1.88 ERA over the streak. But credit should also be given to the most well-known piece of the Royals’ rise to back-to-back AL pennants: Their bullpen.

BULLPEN OF THE WEEK WINNERS Week Team April 3-10 A’s April 11-17 Twins April 18-24 Nationals April 25-May 1 Phillies May 2-8 Angels May 9-15 Yankees May 16-22 Cubs May 23-29 Astros May 30-June 5 Dodgers June 6-12 Yankees June 13-19 Marlins June 20-26 Tigers June 27-July 3 Pirates July 4-10 Dodgers July 18-24 Yankees July 25-31 Brewers Aug. 1-7 Blue Jays Aug. 8-14 Mariners

Kansas City relievers did not allow an earned run last week, and their dominance of late is even more remarkable considering they’re missing two key pieces, closer Wade Davis and long reliever Luke Hochevar, to injury.

“It’s picked us up in a lot of crucial situations,” Royals manager Ned Yost recently said of his bullpen. “When we lost Wade and Hoch, I thought, ‘Man, we’re in trouble.’ But we weren’t. Our guys stepped up.”

With the Royals’ backs against the wall, the relievers have refused to let the team fall out of contention. That makes them the easy choice to receive the team’s first Bullpen of the Week Award presented by The Hartford.

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