It took them 4 hours and 45 minutes and 12 innings, but the Kansas City Royals used their smallball skills to beat the moneyball Oakland A’s, 9-8.
This is the Royals’ first trip to the postseason since 1985, when they won the franchise’s only World Series title. They returned to postseason baseball and certainly put on quite a show for all of the baseball fans, eager for even more great games in this postseason.
It didn’t look too promising for the Royals in the 6th inning, when they suddenly found themselves down 7-3 with the momentum tilting fully towards Oakland.
The Royals didn’t panic and stuck to their smallball game, eventually tying it in the bottom of the 9th, thanks to a risky, but confident steal of third base by pinch-runner, Jarrod Dyson. Dyson was brought in by a sac fly from Nori Aoki, tying the game and forcing extra innings.
The 10th and 11th innings were dominated by strong defensive efforts from both teams. The action started to get crazy in the 12th inning, though, as Josh Reddick came around to score for the A’s on an RBI single from Alberto Callaspo.
With their backs against the wall in the bottom of the 12th, down one run, Eric Hosmer stepped to the plate for the Royals and smacked a fastball into deep left-center field for a stand-up triple. A high chopper to third saw Hosmer come in to score and tie the game once again.
Keeping the smallball theme alive, Colon stole second base to get into scoring position. Salvador Perez then stepped up to the plate and hit a ground ball down the third base line and into the outfield, scoring Colon from second to win the game.
Hosmer commented on his team’s grit after the game, saying, “This team showed a lot of character. We weren’t going to quit.” Even Oakland A’s star, Brandon Moss, couldn’t help but appreciate the dynamic of the great game, saying, “That was definitely the best baseball game I’ve ever been a part of.”
The Royals will move on and continue their postseason journey on Thursday night against Mike Trout, and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. If this game was any sort of indication as to what the rest of the postseason will be like, then we’re all in for a heck of a show!
