Pasquantino breaks through poor luck with towering blast

TORONTO -- Vinnie Pasquantino is a proponent of creating his own fortune. But that didn’t stop him from rooting for the ball to stay fair from the moment it left his bat all the way until it hit the foul pole.

Pasquantino has been the epitome of bad fortune in the Royals’ series against the Blue Jays, constantly putting up competitive at-bats and hitting the ball hard with little to show for it. That changed in the 10th inning of a heartbreaking 6-5 loss to Toronto on Saturday at Rogers Centre, one that showed both teams firsthand how relative the concept of luck can be in baseball.

“Those are the kind of games that good teams are in,” Pasquantino said. “It’s exciting to be in those atmospheres. Obviously, you want to come out with a win, but we’re happy with what we put out on the field today.”

The loss may have stung, but there were plenty of positive takeaways -- namely how the Royals’ top prospect came through in the big moment.

With the game tied at three and Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano on the mound in the top of the frame, Pasquantino pulled a 1-1 slider for a two-run homer that just barely stayed fair and gave his team the lead.

“I was absolutely rooting for that ball to stay fair,” Pasquantino said after the game. “I’m not sure, I haven’t seen any videos, but I’m pretty sure I leaned a little bit. I was trying to help it out.”

He let everyone know how good it felt to see it go.

Pasquantino swiveled from the right-field foul pole to the Royals’ dugout, tossing his bat and fist-pumping as his teammates yelled in celebration.

“That was all a team reaction, that’s all that was,” he said. “It had nothing to do with myself. It was just being excited to put the team in a position to try to win a ballgame.”

But the Royals couldn’t hold onto the lead in the bottom of the 10th. Reliever Joel Payamps failed to get a single Blue Jays hitter out, yielding a double and three straight singles as Teoscar Hernández walked it off for the home team.

The score was tied for pretty much the whole game, and momentum swayed from one team to another all afternoon long.

Michael Massey -- who’d already earned his first and second career hits -- stranded runners on first and second in the sixth after being called out for batter interference on a Danny Jansen pickoff attempt at second base. Manager Mike Matheny vehemently protested the call and ended up ejected for the second time this year.

“I just think it’s a bad call in a very bad time of the game,” said Matheny. “I think it’s a judgment call, so there’s nothing we can do about it. And it’s a shame.”

The Royals regained the upper hand in the following frame, when Bradley Zimmer entered the game to pinch-run for Blue Jays All-Star Alejandro Kirk and was immediately picked off at first base in a heads-up play by reliever Taylor Clarke and first baseman Nick Pratto.

Then, after Pasquantino finally got one to leave the yard, it seemed like things were going to bounce the Royals’ way once and for all.

“Nobody in this locker room should lose any sleep tonight about that loss,” said Pasquantino. “We’re upset about the result, but we’re not upset about the process.”

That term has been brought up a lot with Pasquantino, who sports a .206 batting average and .669 OPS since being called up in late June. When you look a little closer, it’s easy to see why.

The night before his big blast, Pasquantino had four hard-hit balls with a positive launch angle and good carry to them. Still, he finished Friday’s loss 0-for-4. And that was far from the first time he’d experienced that.

“It’s kind of a funny game, because it’s a results-based game and a game of failure,” said Pasquantino. “You’re supposed to perform and you’re also supposed to fail at the same time. The less that you fail, the better you are. …

“I feel like I have a pretty good grip of what I’m doing at the plate, but that doesn’t mean I’m not going to continue to learn and get better on a daily basis.”

That was Matheny’s message, too: Don’t over-correct, and trust that the results will come -- even though the frustration can mount.

“Every single time he came in, I went over [and said], ‘Don’t do anything different. That’s the perfect swing. Stay with it,’” Matheny said of Pasquantino’s performance on Friday.

Understanding the peculiarities of a game of failure and results, Pasquantino has taken that to heart.

“You create your own luck, that’s about it,” he said. “You create your own luck and you see what happens.

“Sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t.”