Perez Sends Royals into ALDS with 12th Inning Single - East Idaho News
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Perez Sends Royals into ALDS with 12th Inning Single

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Getty S 030613 MLB?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1412148147422Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) — Salvador Perez’s walk-off single with two outs in the 12th sent the Kansas City Royals past the Oakland Athletics 9-8 Tuesday night, in the American League Wild Card game.

After the Athletics took the lead in the top of the 12th on an Alberto Callaspo RBI single, the Royals answered back. Eric Hosmer hit a triple and then scored the tying run on Christian Colon’s RBI infield single. Colon then stole second base before scoring the game-winner on Perez’s clutch hit.

“This will go down as the craziest game I’ve ever played,” Hosmer said. “This team showed a lot of character. No one believed in us before the game. No one believed in us before the season.”

Hosmer is right, the game was pretty crazy. The Royals, who were playing in their first postseason since 1985, were leading 3-2 in the sixth inning when starting pitcher James Shields allowed a hit and then walked a batter. That prompted Kansas City skipper Ned Yost to pull Shields for rookie Yordano Ventura. Ventura then allowed a three-run home run to Brandon Moss, his second homer of the game, to make it 5-3. The A’s added two more runs that inning, creating a deficit that appeared the Royals would not overcome. But Kansas City clawed out three runs in the eighth and Norichicka Aoki’s sacrifice fly in the ninth sent the game into extra innings.

This is the Athletics seventh-straight loss in a winner-take-all playoff game since 2000.

The Royals now advance to take on the Los Angeles Angels in their best-of-five Division Series. Game 1 is Thursday night in Los Angeles.

 


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