Of the three home runs the Astros sent over Kauffman Stadium’s fences on this balmy Friday night, none did more damage than Evan Gattis’ sixth-inning grand slam.
The ball traveled 101 mph, extinguished the Royals’ tenuous one-run lead and effectively killed hopes of a comeback in what became a 7-3 loss to open a three-game set against the defending World Series champions.
Starting pitcher Jakob Junis watched Gattis' homer travel from near home plate, to where he’d jogged as soon as the ball left Gattis’ bat. Junis knew instantly it was gone; the crack of Gattis' bat had sliced through the air.