Four years after trade, Royals' Cain, Escobar a big deal
BALTIMORE --- Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain were stunned by phone calls they received on the morning of Dec. 19, 2010.
Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin was on the line to inform them they had been traded to the Kansas City Royals as part of a four-player package for star right-hander Zack Greinke. After winning the American League Cy Young Award a year earlier, Greinke asked general manager Dayton Moore to deal him.
Both Escobar and Cain were certain they were a big part of the Brewers' future. Escobar was considered the organization's top prospect and long-term answer at shortstop while Cain was expected to battle for the starting center fielder's job in spring training.
Being traded to Kansas City was the equivalent of banishment to baseball's hinterlands. The Royals had lost at least 93 games in seven of the previous eight seasons, which is why Greinke wanted out.
Nearly four years later, though, Escobar and Cain couldn't be happier to be with the Royals, especially after playing major roles Saturday in a 6-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.
The win gave Kansas City a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven affair and made the Royals 6-0 this postseason.
Cain went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI, a stolen base, two runs scored and a pair of spectacular catches.
Escboar went just 1-for-5 but his lone hit was a run-scoring double with one out in the ninth inning off closer Zach Britton that broke a 4-4 tie.
Moore smiled likes a proud father after the game when asked what Cain and Escobar have meant to the Royals.
"They were part of the trade that put us on the pathway to where we are now," Moore said. "That's how important they are."
Two more wins and Escobar and Cain will be going to the World Series, an event the Royals haven't participated in since they last made a postseason appearance in 1985. The 28-year-old Cain was one year from being born then and the 27-year-old Escobar was two years from being born.
"Once I found out I got traded, it was mixed emotions," Cain said. "Once I got over here, though, these guys embraced me with open arms. The chemistry has been great from my teammates and I'm having a blast right now. To be on this run is a lot of fun."
While Cain helped spark the Royals' 13-hit attack, the two catches were highlight reel-worthy.
In the second, he sprinted all the way into right field to make a diving grab of Jonathan Schoop's two-out drive, ending the inning, causing the Orioles to leave the bases loaded and protecting the Royals' 2-1 lead.
Cain moved to right field in the seventh when Jarrod Dyson stayed in the game at center field after pinch running in the top of the inning. Cain sprinted to the foul line to snag J.J. Hardy's two-out fly ball as the Orioles again left the bases full, this time with the score tied at 4-4.
"I expected him to make one in left field, too, before the game was over," Orioles manager Buck Showalter cracked.
Cain's four-hit game tied a Royals postseason record. Hall of Famer George Brett achieved the feat twice, both times against the Yankees.
While Cain prevented the Orioles from moving ahead, Escobar put the Royals ahead for good when he hit his RBI double down the right-field foul line with one out in the ninth to score pinch runner Terrance Gore from second base with the go-ahead run.
"I was looking for a fastball and I hit down the right-field line," he said. "It was a great feeling."
GALLERY: Royals-Orioles battle in ALCS