It appeared that their first post-season appearance in 29 years would be brief, but the Kansas City Royals came up with a dramatic victory in the wild card playoff last Tuesday night, 9-8, in 12 innings.
Trailing 7-3 in the sixth inning and with Jon Lester on the mound for the Oakland Athletics, the Royals’ chances of winning didn’t look promising. Lester had beaten the Royals twice already this season.
But Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer says the Royals didn’t lose hope.
“You know we don’t care who’s on the mound,” says Hosmer. “Like everyone kept saying in the dugout, ‘Just keep the line moving.’ When you’re playing with guys that believe, it’s a lot of fun. We showed a lot of character tonight battling back and just getting it done.”
They scored three in the eighth and tied it in the ninth before Salvador Perez singled home the winning run in the 12th.
The Royals advance to play a best-of-five series against the Angels in Anaheim starting Thursday night.
