 |
| Perez the folk hero in KC. Photo Credit: Denny Medley/ USA Today Sports |
Salvador Perez came through with the base hit that completed a rollercoaster ride of a night for the Royals, who move on to face the Angels in the ALDS by defeating Oakland 9-8 in 12 inning son Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium.
By: Michael Hanley
The Athletics got off to a roaring start when Brendan Moss of all players got the A's off to a 2-0 start courtesy of his 2 out, two run home run off of James Shields. It was only his third home run of this season. It was exactly what this team needed to settle into the game and quiet the loud KC crowd at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals would battle back though as they got on the board in the bottom of the first inning as Billy Butler singled home Norichika Aoki home to bring Kansas City to within 2-1. It could have been a bigger inning for the club had Butler not been picked off of first base.
Lorenzo Cain would come up in a huge situation, two outs and a runner at third base, and he came through big as he doubled down the left field line which got home Mike Moustakas to tie the game at two a piece.
Eric Hosmer would keep the inning going with a shallow single to left center that dropped just in time before it could be caught, scoring Cain and giving the Royals their first lead at 3-2. They had gotten a rhythm and a good feel of what Lester was trying to do to them and now were just sitting on a pitches to hit, which they did in that frame.
Shields after being handed the lead would go right through the Athletic's three hitters in the top of the 4th inning via a fly out, a groundout and a strikeout to cap a lightening quick frame for the Royals ace.
Lester finally had a quick 1-2-3 inning for himself as he featured his curveball more than he had at any point previous in the game. It proved very effective as the Kansas City batters were out in front of it and had no chance of making contact with it.
Shields would continue to roll along as he chalked up another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the 5th inning. He has found his rhythm that had eluded him in the earlier innings of this game. Shields was not pounding the strike zone, making the Oakland hitters be on their heels as to what he was going to throw next.
James Shields would run into some trouble as he let two Athletics get aboard which led to the controversial decision by Royals Manager Ned Yost to take him out and put the young reliever Yordano Ventura, who would make one of the biggest mistake pitches of this game as he left over the plate a 99 mph fastball that Brandon Moss promptly crushed to center field to give the Athletics a 5-3 lead.
Oakland was not done as they added two more runs courtesy of RBI hits from Derrick Norris and Coco Crisp. It would end up being a five run 6th inning and a 7-3 A's lead.
Lester would continue his roll as he got another quick inning and stretched his consecutive batters he got out to ten after the 6th inning.
He would stretch it to twelve batters in a row before Infante reached base with two outs in the 7th inning.
Royals would make a rally in the bottom of the 8th inning as they got an RBI single courtesy of Cain, who brought home Escobar in from third base to make it 7-4.
Lester would depart after 7 1/3 innings of solid pitching for Oakland, coming back from the bumpy early innings he endured. The pressure would shift back to the Athletics and to their bullpen to now come in and shut the door on the KC rally.
The Kansas City rally would continue as Butler would drive in another run to pull KC within 7-5. A wild pitch by Gregerson brought home another Royals run, cutting the deficit to 7-6. Gregerson finally closed the inning out as he got two huge strikeouts back to back to strand the tying run at third base.
This was one impressive frame by KC as they looked like they did not have much of a pulse down 7-3 coming into the inning. Its a testament to their belief and strength to come up with that type of a late rally to get themselves back into this game.
The Athletics would load the bases up in the top of the 9th inning but could not take advantage of the situation and left them that way. Even one run brought in would have been a huge as an insurance run.
Royals would complete the comeback as Jarrod Dyson got on base, stole third base and came home on a sacrifice fly by Aoki. It would be the 6th stolen base of the game for KC who were making this a track meet of sorts with the parade of bases they were stealing.
The Royals would have Brandon Finnegan come in and he would be dominant as he would only allow two base runners to reach in his 2 1/3 innings of work. He provided stability and a power arm to mow through the A's power tilted lineup.
Jason Frasor would come on for KC and would give up the go ahead run on an RBI single by Alberto Callaspo to left field, who scored Josh Reddick and gave Oakland an 8-7 lead.
Kansas City would not die though as Hosmer hit a one out RBI triple off the wall to set up the tying run, which he scored on an infield single by Colon. It would add another crazy chapter to this incredible, never ending Wildcard game.
Salvador Perez proved to be the hero for the Royals as he singled down the left field line just past the glove of Donaldson to bring the game winning run home and send KC to the ALDS vs. the Angels.
Follow me on Twitter: @Magic20099
