On Saturday in Boston, Royals manager Ned Yost deployed reliever Brandon Maurer, a recent acquisition from San Diego, in the seventh inning and Joakim Soria in the eighth. On Sunday, he utilized Maurer in the eighth and closer Kelvin Herrea in the ninth. On Monday here in Baltimore, he turned to right-hander Peter Moylan in the eighth inning of a tie game before calling on Soria in the ninth.
The Royals won one of the three games. In the other two, Soria allowed runs that eventually led to losses. But as Yost reflected on his recent bullpen usage here on Tuesday, his point was not Soria’s effectiveness but rather his mix-and-match approach in the late innings.