Dyson, Escobar propel Royals over Marlins

MIAMI — The blazing speed of Jarrod Dyson is obvious, but it was the center fielder’s leaping ability that took a possible home run away from Christian Yelich in the first inning on Thursday that served as a reminder the Royals can beat you in so many ways.

Dyson’s catch, coupled with Alcides Escobar’s home run, double and two runs scored provided the lift the Royals needed to defeat the Marlins, 5-2, and claim two of three at Marlins Park.

“It feels great,” Dyson said. “It’s the first one I’ve ever robbed in my career, so it’s a pretty special moment for me.”

The Marlins had a tough time recovering from Dyson’s catch.

“It was a great play,” Yelich said. “It [stinks] to be on the other side of it. You’ve got to hit to get it out of here.”

The Royals, winners of 10 of 11, did the little things better on Thursday, and they capitalized on Dee Gordon’s throwing error in a two-run sixth inning that snapped a 2-2 tie. Gordon made a wild throw on Alex Gordon’s broken-bat infield single, and Escobar delivered an RBI double off Tom Koehler that put Kansas City ahead to stay. Kendrys Morales added a sacrifice fly in the inning.

“That’s a tough play. You’re playing on the move, you’re playing on the run,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of Gordon’s error. “Obviously, you don’t want to [throw it away]. It’s going to be a great play, if he makes it. If you don’t, you don’t expect it to end up [giving him] second base. To me, that’s just a tough play.”

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The game featured some great plays and some sloppy ones in the field. Dyson turned in one of the greatest catches since Marlins Park opened in 2012. In the first inning, he raced to the wall and robbed Yelich of a home run, but in the fourth, Miami scored two runs on third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert’s throwing error, evening the score at 2.

The Marlins will be glad to close out playing the American League Central, where they went 3-10 on the season.

MOMENTS THAT MATTEREDEarly glove work: Dyson was able to make his spectacular catch in center because fences were brought in and lowered prior to the 2016 season in hopes of producing more runs. But Dyson robbed Yelich to end the first inning. Dyson leaped to pull in Yelich’s blast, which according to Statcast™ traveled …

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