Royals' rotation set to make history with three Dominicans
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez is making history alongside two close friends and countrymen, in a way that has become especially poignant following the death of his father before Game 1 of the World Series.
Volquez helped the Royals win Game 1 with six sturdy innings on a night of unimaginable emotion for his family. And now the Royals are poised to become the first team in Major League Baseball history with multiple pitchers from the Dominican Republic in their World Series rotation.
In fact, with Johnny Cueto and Yordano Ventura set to start the next two games, the Royals will equal their own record (established in this year's Division Series, duplicated in the League Championship Series) for the most Dominican starting pitchers in any postseason series.
According to STATS LLC, there have been four instances of two Dominican pitchers starting for the same team in a postseason series: the '99 Red Sox in the ALDS and ALCS (Pedro Martinez, Ramon Martinez); the '04 Dodgers in the NLDS (Odalis Perez, Jose Lima); and the '10 Reds in the NLDS (Volquez, Cueto).
