Happy with position: Kansas City Royals well-placed - Ned Yost

A 7-2 win on Wednesday saw the Royals level the MLB World Series at 1-1 ahead of games at the Giants' AT T Park.

Despite losing the opener at Kauffman Stadium to give up home-field advantage, Yost is confident his team are well-placed for a first World Series title since 1985.

"It wasn't necessarily a must-win game, but it was as close to a must-win game as you can get," he said on Thursday.

"To have [Yordano] Ventura come out and pitch as well as he did, and get timely hits and score five runs in the sixth inning was huge. Great relief pitching by [Kelvin] Herrera, which has kind of been our recipe.

"But our guys are really confident. We've got a lot of confidence in Jeremy Guthrie and Jason Vargas the next two games here, and we look for James Shields to bounce back in a big way.

"So we feel pretty good where we sit right now."
Yost was praised for his changes late in game two, including introducing Herrera in what was the decisive sixth inning.

But the 60-year-old said he paid no attention to the praise, nor criticism, that came his way.

"I don't account for it. I don't care about it. I understand how this game is, and I know that if something good happens, I'm going to look smart, all right," Yost said.

"My players won a ball game yesterday. You know what I did? Nothing.

"I took Herrera and put him in the ball game in the sixth inning, and if that makes me a genius, then I'm a genius. But if I had taken Ventura out of that game and brought in Kel, and he gave up a three-run homer, I would have been a dope, right?

"So I don't really pay attention to when people say I'm stupid, and I don't really pay attention to when people say I'm smart because I'm neither.

"I'm not a dope, but I'm not the smartest guy on the face of the earth either. So I just let all that go. I don't pay any attention to it. I don't read about it.

"I just want our team to win, and that is the only satisfaction that I get out of anything."