Royals Report: Rally-Mantis LIVES! KC Rallies For 14th Inning Win

By John Viril | Aug 11, 2016

Aug 7, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; A large praying mantis sits on the dugout rail prior to the game between the Kansas City Royals and Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

The Royals rebounded from a tough loss on Tuesday night to win a 3-2,14-inning marathon against the Chicago White Sox Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium. Kansas City can win their second straight series with another victory on Thursday.

The Kansas City Royals improved to 54-59 with the 3-2 victory, and are now 10 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central. The Chicago White Sox dropped to 54-59 and fell into a tie with KC for third place in the Central.

The Royals are now 3-1 after Rallly-Mantis first appeared in the clubhouse. Though the offense failed to produce more than three runs on Wednesday, they did managed to scratch out late-inning single runs to tie the game in the eighth and 11th innings. Lorenzo Cain‘s RBI single to score Christian Colon from second base won the game in the 14th.

Kansas City looked like they were going to waste a strong outing from starter Ian Kennedy, who lasted 6.1 innings while allowing only 6 hits, 1 walk, and 1 earned run with two strikeouts. The solo home run he allowed to Chicago center fielder J.B. Shuck in the third inning appeared to be enough for White Sox starter Carlos Quintana, who dominated the Royals for 7.0 innings without allowing a run.

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Chicago manager Robin Ventura pulled Quintana after giving up a one-out double to Paulo Orlando in the eighth inning in favor of lefty reliever Nate Jones. Alex Gordon then followed with a double that not only frustrated Ventura’s platoon advantage strategy, but also knotted the game at 1-1.

The KC Royals appeared destined to lose when reliever Chien-Ming Wang allowed Chicago to score a run in the 11th on a bloop single from shortstop Tim Anderson that floated over the head of first baseman Eric Hosmer. Kansas City responded with an RBI double from catcher Salvador Perez that drove in Hosmer from second base to tie the score at 2-2.

Another fun fact from Wednesday’s game is that KC manager Ned Yost used eight pitchers in the game. That included no. 5 starter Dillon Gee, who pitched scoreless 13th and 14th innings to earn the win (4-5). At this point, you have to wonder if he will be able to make his next start, or if Yost will have to find a replacement.

Next: Royals MiLB: Pitcher Jake Junis Enjoying Nice Season

Of course, the key fact here is that the win probably keeps #RallyMantis as the Kansas City Royals good luck charm instead of causing her to get put back out into the wild.

Who knows just how much they can accomplish with insect power on their side?

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