Kansas City Royals’ Drew Waters saves day with outfield assist vs. the Chicago Cubs

The Kansas City Royals bullpen needed three outs to shut the door against the Chicago Cubs.

In the ninth inning, the Royals clung to a 4-3 lead. Reliever Carlos Hernandez hoped to nail down his second save this season. It was a tough challenge as he faced the heart of the Cubs lineup.

The Royals bullpen had struggled in recent games. KC relievers blew a late lead against the Seattle Mariners on Thursday.

But this time would be different, thanks in part to an assist from outfielder Drew Waters.

Waters threw out Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner attempting to stretch a one-out single into a double. He threw a laser to Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., who applied the tag at second base.

“You never know what’s going to happen after that if he is safe,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It was right on the money and a tremendous throw. That’s not an easy corner to play.”

Waters said he was pretty confident in his throwing ability. He shifted his weight behind the baseball and let his athletic talents take over.

“The first job is to cut off the ball,” Waters said. “Once I did get to the ball, I saw where he was in relation to first base. I knew I had a shot at getting him. It was all about making a good throw.”

The Royals lead Major League Baseball with 31 outfield assists this season. Waters has five outfield assists while MJ Melendez leads the team with eight.

Hernandez walked Cubs outfielder Ian Happ before striking out Cody Bellinger to end the game.

The Royals won their fifth consecutive head-to-head matchup against the Cubs. KC improved to 40-84 with hopes of winning the three-game series over the weekend.