KANSAS CITY — “It’s not a death sentence to lose Game 1,” the steely skipper of the Royals, Ned Yost, reminded the interview room at Kaufman Stadium late Thursday night. It was moments after the Royals’ 5–2 loss to the Astros in the opening game of the ALDS—the 2015 postseason still had that new car smell, the Royals’ Unfinished Business tour this October still just getting revved up. After one game, nobody expected doubt and panic to be coursing through K.C.
And yet there was something about the Astros’ win that felt bigger than your typical Game 1 victory, and a question during Yost’s postgame news conference pinpointed exactly why.