KC Royals Game Recap: Bullpen, Home Runs, and Career First

MOOSE! Mike Moustakas blasted a game-winning home run to right center field in the top of the 12th inning to give the Royals their first lead of the night. The Rays took a 4-0 lead early, but the KC Royals never gave up and tied the game in the 8th inning thanks to Alex Gordon. The four run comeback was the biggest comeback this season for the Royals as they continued their success at the plate with seven runs. 

The KC Royals beat the Tampa Bay Rays in 12 innings with a final score of 7-6. It improved the Royals record to 12-20 on the season.

The game wasn’t all positive though, especially at the beginning. Chris Young’s impromptu start for the KC Royals went just as expected; bad. The Rays used a two run homer in the first inning from Logan Morrison to get ahead early, and big. The Royals were not finished however, and rallied back in the final innings to overcome a four run hole.

The game looked lost at the beginning, during the fourth inning when the Royals trailed 4-1 and had two on and nobody out, they couldn’t capitalize. The KC Royals failed to score during one of the better rallies against Rays starter Matt Andriese and the momentum stayed with Tampa Bay. Alex Gordon, Whit Merrifield, and Brandon Moss all failed to get the ball in play during the inning which killed the early game rally. Seven strikeouts in the first five innings allowed the Royals to see little success before a questionable balk call allowed the Royals to score their first run.

KC Royals starter Chris Young only went three innings and let up four runs on seven hits, also walking four. Travis Wood relieved Young in the fourth and pitched three innings where he allowed two runs which raised his ERA to 11.91. This left the Royals down 5-1 entering the sixth inning, but that’s when things changed.

The game started to swing in the Royals direction in the sixth inning when Salvador Perez crushed a ball over the left field fence to cut the score to 5-3. This was Perez’s seventh homer of the year which tied Mike Moustakas’ record for the team lead.