Everyone’s talking about the Royals, and for good reason. The defending World Series champs won nine in a row and 12 of their last 13 before getting shut down by Jose Fernandez and the Marlins on Wednesday night. They’ve climbed back into contention in the American League. KC begins Thursday just five games out of the AL's second wild-card spot.
It’s an interesting turnaround for a team that largely stood pat at the trade deadline. The only transaction of note was a swap of outfielders with the A’s: Brett Eibner for Billy Burns.
The Royals aren’t the only team making a surprising late-season surge.