Manager Ned Yost had made up his mind.
The Royals were leading by two runs in an eventual 9-0 win at Kauffman Stadium on Wednesday night. Heath Fillmyer, one of the Royals’ three rookie starting pitchers, was on the mound to start the seventh inning against the pennant-chasing Chicago Cubs. It was his game to lose.
Yet Yost’s resolve wavered. Fillmyer had allowed back-to-back hits to David Bote and Tommy La Stella with one out in the inning. He struck out Willson Contreras on three pitches for the second out, but on deck loomed Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber.