Wade Davis' series-clinching out caps gutsy performance

Kansas City Royals closer Wade Davis waited close to 45 minutes between pitches because of a rain delay during Game 6 of the ALCS, but one would never know based on his ninth-inning results.

With his team protecting a one-run lead in the ninth, Davis allowed a leadoff single to Russell Martin and walked Kevin Pillar, before bouncing back with two straight strikeouts and inducing a series-ending groundout from Josh Donaldson to book the Royals' second consecutive trip to the World Series.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Though Davis' 30-pitch appearance included some controversy - strike zone maps showed his called second strike to Ben Revere was well off the plate - the Royals' hard-throwing right-hander earned praise from Blue Jays manager John Gibbons after the game.

"Wade Davis stepped up, like he's done the last few years," Gibbons said.

Despite retiring the only two batters he faced in the eighth, the long layoff threatened to take the Royals' best reliever out of the pivotal game. Ned Yost said his decision to send his closer back out for the ninth was made easier when former stopper Greg Holland turned to him to say, "Don't worry about nothing, Wade wants to go to the World Series."

"Wade got through it, then it was a 20-minute rain delay, 20 minutes to get the field ready, that's 40, 45 minutes," Yost said. "Wade did a great job coming upstairs to the weight room, getting a heat pack on his arm and shoulder, he was on the bike, he was moving around and playing catch. I kept checking with him, How do you feel, how do you feel? He said, I'm all right. I'm okay. But you get to 45 minutes and it gets a little nerve wracking there."