Royals Utility Man Explains Huge Baserunning Blunder In Red Sox Defeat

Nothing is more deflating in Major League Baseball than a self-inflicted wound.

The Kansas City Royals had a legitimate chance to notch a massive comeback win on Monday night. After trailing the Boston Red Sox 8-1, they pushed four runs across in the top of the eighth and had superstar Bobby Witt Jr. at the plate as the tying run.

Fenway Park let out a nervous sigh as Witt lined a base hit into right field. But Nick Loftin, who had just launched a double off the Green Monster as a pinch-hitter, ran right through a stop sign from third base coach Vance Wilson and got himself thrown out at the plate by 10 feet on a rocket from Gold Glover Wilyer Abreu.

That meant the Red Sox got out of the inning, and by the time umpires in New York determined there was no plate-blocking violation from catcher Connor Wong, that nervous Fenway Park crowd was raucous once more, launching into a loud chorus of Sweet Caroline.

So what happened? Why did Loftin seemingly ignore Wilson? Well... that's about all there was to it, according to the utility man: He ignored his coach.

“Hit the bag, kept my head down because that’s usually what I do with two outs and [was] trying to score on a base hit,” Loftin said, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com. “Looked up, saw him put his hand up, and at that point, I just kind of kept going.”

It was just a total lack of situational awareness. For one, you've got to know your outfielder there. Abreu has 97th percentile arm strength, and he's also extremely accurate with that cannon. Loftin couldn't have seen that the ball only took one hop on its way to Abreu, but that's all the more reason to pick up your base coach.

But more importantly, the Royals missed out on a chance to bring the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Vinnie Pasquantino, who had led off that very same inning with a long home run to right-center field off reliever Jorge Alcala.

At 56-57, the Royals can hardly afford to hand any more games to their opponents. And a player like Loftin, who only has 126 plate appearances this year, shouldn't be the one determining their fate.

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