KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The trade was simple. On late Wednesday night, Hunter Dozier met with a family inside Kauffman Stadium and handed over an assortment of bats and balls. The family offered back just one object: The baseball that Dozier, the Royals’ first baseman, clubbed into the seats in left field in the seventh inning.
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“It’s a good feeling,” Dozier said.
In a 11-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins, Dozier whacked his first career homer, a solo shot off Twins reliever Aaron Slegers. It represented both a crucial insurance run and a source of relief inside the Royals’ dugout.
Dozier, 26, owner of 55 career minor-league homers and 69 career major-league at-bats, had yet to hit a baseball over the fence in the majors. The fact gnawed at him, he said, the statistic weighing on his mind. He had tested the limits of spacious Kauffman Stadium since returning to the big leagues earlier this month. Yet he had not reached his goal.
“It’s been the back of my mind for a while now,” Dozier said.
On Wednesday, the much-awaited blast was also timely. The Royals built a 9-0 lead in the first two innings against Twins starter Fernando Romero and Slegers. The bullpen nearly gave it back in humiliating fashion after rookie Brad Keller reached his pitch count after three innings in his first major-league start.
Rookie Trevor Oaks allowed three runs in 1 2/3 innings. Burch Smith was touched for four in an inning of work. When Dozier stepped to the plate in the seventh, the Royals led just 9-8.
“We could find a bunch of words for that,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of the near collapse. “We just couldn’t slow them down.”
Relief came in the form of an 88-mph sinker from Slegers on the first pitch. Dozier jumped on the offering, drilling it down the line in left field. The baseball disappeared into the seats, where it was scooped up by a fan.
“I feel like a weight’s lifted off my shoulders,” Dozier said. “I’ve been close. But to finally get that first one, it’s a good feeling.”
Dozier, the Royals’ first-round pick in 2013, has unburdened himself of other weights in the last two weeks. He is now batting .264 after compiling four multi-hit games in his last six. He has settled in after he began filling in for injured first baseman Lucas Duda on May 14.
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Two seasons after earning a September call-up, and one year after an injury-ridden campaign spent solely in the minors, Dozier is seeking to make the most of his audition. He would like to be a regular at some point, a player who could make good on his first-round promise. A performance like Wednesday will not hurt his cause.
“We’ve seen him hit homers in spring training,” Yost said. “I’m like: ‘Is that really your first big-league home run during the regular season?’ He said: ‘Yeah!’ It kind of caught me off guard a little bit.”
Dozier, of course, was not the only player to supply power against the Twins pitching staff. Mike Moustakas launched a two-run blast off Romero in the second that tucked just inside the foul pole in right field. His 12th homer of the season left his bat at a 46-degree launch angle, the highest homer in the majors this season, according to Statcast data. Jorge Soler delivered a blast of another variety, blistering a line drive into the left-field bullpen for his eighth homer in the bottom of the eighth. It came after he had another homer taken away by replay earlier in the game. He still matched his career high with four hits. Yost called the final blast “quite refreshing and relaxing.”
The Royals (20-36) secured their fifth victory in seven games and their second series win in three tries. The decision went to reliever Kevin McCarthy, who calmed the waters with 1 1/3 scoreless innings. But in the moments after the game, the most satisfied person in the Royals clubhouse was Dozier, who became the 297th player in franchise history to hit a home run.
He had come away with the ball and a weight off his shoulders. The Royals had survived after nearly giving away a 9-0 lead. As the music blared from a clubhouse speaker, Dozier smiled.
“A good feeling,” he said again.
(Photo by John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/TNS via Getty Images)
