Omar Infante Gives Royals an 8-6 Comeback Victory over the Blue Jays

The Kansas City Royals, fresh off a sweep at the hands of the Houston Astros, needed a victory. Omar Infante made sure that the Royals would end their four game losing streak, coming through with a two run single in the top of the tenth to give the Royals an 8-6 victory.

With James Shields on the mound, it seemed as though the Royals had a chance as long as they could put a few runs together. However, the Blue Jays struck quickly against him in the bottom of the first, as Jose Bautista crushed a two run home run to left, giving the Blue Jays the early lead.

The Royals answered right back in the top of the second. Salvador Perez took sole possession of the Royals home run lead with his solo home run with one out. A fourth inning ground rule double by Alex Gordon, which landed just inside the foul line before skipping into the seats,  plating Eric Hosmer with the tying run.

The tie did not last for long. Shields was once again victimized for a two run home run with one out. This time, Edwin Encarnacion did the honors, blasting the offering deep to left, giving the Blue Jays a 4-2 lead.

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Once again, the Royals answered. After Alcides Escobar led off the top of the fifth with a base hit, Pedro Ciricao hammered R.A. Dickey‘s knuckler to deep center, missing a home run by inches. The blast was enough to score Escobar, as Ciriaco found himself on second with a double. A bunt single put runners at the corners, bringing up Omar Infante. Infante dropped a base hit into left to tie the game. One batter later, Billy Butler put the Royals ahead with his base hit to right, as the Royals had a 5-4 lead.

The Royals had a chance to extend the lead in the top of the sixth, loading the bases with one out. Infante stepped to the plate and hit a line drive up the middle. Unfortunately, he hit the ball right at Jose Reyes, who flipped the ball to second for an easy double play to end the threat.

In the bottom of the inning, Encarnacion struck again. With one on and two outs, Shields left a ball over the inner half of the plate that Encarnacion did not miss, as he hammered the ball deep into the seats in left to put the Blue Jays on top 6-5.

That score held up until the top of the ninth. After Butler was thrown out at first on what appeared to be a base hit, the Royals were down to their last out. Gordon singled, and pinch runner Jarrod Dyson stole second to put the tying run in scoring position. Perez hit a ground ball to short for what appeared to be the final out, but Reyes threw the ball into the dirt, allowing Dyson to score the tying run.

Given new life, the Royals made the most of their opportunity. Escobar singled, bringing up Ciriaco who attempted to bunt him over. However, Ciriaco was hit in the head on a 0-1 pitch, putting runners on first and second. After Aoki dropped down the sacrifice, Omar Infante came to the plate once again. This time, he lined a base hit just over the leaping Brett Lawrie, plating Escobar and Ciriaco to give the Royals the lead. Greg Holland worked the bottom of the inning, nailing down the 8-6 comeback victory.

Wade Davis earned the win, pitching two perfect innings of relief with two strikeouts. Shields was victimized by the long ball, as all six of his runs came on home runs. Overall, he allowed the six runs on eight hits in seven innings, striking out six and picking off two baserunners. Omar Infante was 2-6 with three RBIs in the victory.