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Royals Author Remarkable Comeback To Take 2-0 ALCS Lead

Jeremy Bernfeld
/
/ KCUR 89.3
Royals closer Wade Davis shuts the door to end another comeback win.

Don’t ever count the Royals out.

Down three runs. Who cares?

Just nine outs to go. So what?

Facing a near-unhittable pitcher? Big deal.

A five-run rally in the bottom of the seventh inning Saturday vaulted the Royals from losers to winners over the Toronto Blue Jays and rewrote with a happy ending what had looked like a lost day for the home side.

The 6-3 win means the Royals will bring a two-game lead to the north as the best-of-seven series shifts to Toronto, and that the club needs just two more wins to book their place in the World Series.

Royals second-baseman Ben Zobrist got the rally started in the seventh with a bloop to right field, which Toronto’s Ryan Goins and Jose Bautista misplayed into a hit.

“I really think the crowd had a lot to do with that ball dropping,” Zobrist says. “They were so loud, I don’t think they could communicate out there.”

That small spark ignited a blistering inferno.

Eric Hosmer singled to drive in the first run. In a flash, Kendrys Morales, Mike Moustakas, Alex Gordon and Alex Rios all added to the tally.

Moustakas singled in an extra insurance run in the eighth.

The remarkable comeback was made only more astonishing because Blue Jays starter David Price had been astounding.

After surrendering a hit on the first pitch of the game, Price set down 18 straight Royals. Heading to the fateful seventh inning, Price had allowed just a small handful of balls out of the infield. He looked untouchable.

Ultimately, though, the Royals were able to exploit the tiny chink in the Blue Jays’ armor and wrench it open wide enough to deliver a death blow.

“That’s what it seems like,” Zobrist says. “One little crack is all we need and we’re just able to get things rolling. Guys just start believing.”

Game 3 is scheduled for 7:07 PM Monday in Toronto.

Jeremy Bernfeld is the editor of KCUR's Harvest Public Media. Find him on Twitter @JeremyHPM.

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