Royals display fight in 7-6 comeback victory over Rays

A line of Royals pitchers stood just inside the clubhouse late Tuesday night, handing out high fives and waiting on a rookie reliever. Chris Young stood closest to the door, then reliever Travis Wood. Behind them was Peter Moylan, who was screaming out toward a concourse here at Tropicana Field.

Somewhere, in the moments after a 7-6 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays in 12 innings, Jake Junis had slipped away to meet with his wife, Brianne. He had flown all night from Salt Lake City to join the Royals, arriving in Florida at 9 a.m. He was activated nearly 90 minutes later.

Junisshut off his cell phone and tried to sleep for a few hours before reporting to the ballpark. By late Tuesday night, with a bullpen depleted and a game carrying into the night, he was called upon in the bottom of the 11th. Junis worked around a leadoff walk and recorded a scoreless inning, earning his first career win after Mike Moustakas clubbed a solo homer in the top of the 12th.

So, as the Royals prepared to celebrate their second win in as many days, the party was waiting on Junis.

“You’ve got the rest of your life to hang out with your wife!” Moylan yelled.

Moments later, Junis bounded up a flight of stairs that led to the Royals’ dugout and arrived inside.

“We’re your family now!” Moylan said, as the players disappeared into the clubhouse and the sound of AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” overtook the room.

The scene and the victory provided a shot of adrenaline. By late Tuesday, the Royals were ready to toast what might have been the sweetest victory of this season, a spirited, come-from-behind performance that saw them erase a four-run deficit after five innings and display the fight that still exists in this team.

They weathered a poor first inning from Young, who allowed four runs in the first while making a spot start for an injured Ian Kennedy. They discovered a path to victory thanks to a bullpen that finished the game with six scoreless innings.

The offense delivered seven runs for a second straight night as the Royals opened a four-game series with two victories. Moustakas offered the decisive blow, jumping on a 1-2 change-up from Tampa Bay’s Diego Moreno, who was also called up earlier in the day.

“Today could have been a huge day for us,” Moustakas said.

As Moustakas’ eighth homer smashed into the empty seats in right field, and a collection of Royals fans began chanting inside Tropicana Field, Junis looked on from the dugout. In that moment, he said, he realized he was three outs from his first major-league win.

“That was awesome,” Junis said. “That was one of the coolest things ever to happen in my baseball career — was watch that home run go.”

Just two days after collecting one hit in a loss to Cleveland and dropping to 10 games under .500 for the first time since 2012, the Royals (12-20) have won two straight for the first time since winning four straight during April 13-16. They can secure a series win with a victory Wednesday or Thursday.

“It was definitely a character win,” Young said. “The guys didn’t quit. They said it when I came in after the first. They said, ‘Keep it here and we’ll win this.’ They held true to that.”

First baseman Eric Hosmer finished 3 for 6, raising his average to .293 after it stood at .192 on April 24. Salvador Perez crushed his seventh homer while piling up three hits. Reliever Mike Minor crafted 2  2/3 scoreless innings of relief, pushing the game to extra innings.

The comeback took a collective effort. In a 5-1 hole after five innings, the Royals wielded a rock hammer and went to work, chipping away at the deficit. Perez clubbed a two-run homer against Rays starter Matt Andriese in the sixth. The Royals scored two more runs in the seventh via a scatter-shot rally against the Tampa Bay bullpen.

Hosmer delivered a two-out RBI single to slice the Rays’ lead to 6-5, with an opportunity for more. But with two runners on base, Hosmer was picked off first by Rays catcher Jesus Sucre.

“I was trying to get off a little more, either to beat that play at second in the hole or try and score on an extra-base hit,” Hosmer said. “I just got a little too aggressive.”

Minutes later, in the bottom of the seventh, Yost came out to make a pitching change and Hosmer walked over to deliver a message.

“I went out and Hos was like: ‘Man, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ ” Yost said. “I go, ‘Look, I feel good about this. Don’t worry about this. We’re going to get some runs.’

“We had a lot of confidence tonight for some reason.”

The feeling turned prophetic. Perez led off the eighth with a rule-book double and scored after Rays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier misplayed a single from Alex Gordon. The play knotted the score at 6-6, and the bullpens began to do battle. By the 11th, the ball belonged to Junis, who was making his second major-league appearance.

“It’s just adrenaline,” Junis said, “getting into a big situation like that. It definitely just felt more comfortable this time.”

Junis finished the inning by striking out Evan Longoria. Moustakas swatted a homer in the 12th. Closer Kelvin Herrera shut the door. Minutes later, the Royals began lining up inside the clubhouse.

“The guys just didn’t quit,” Young said. “It’s a great win for us tonight.”

Royals 7, Rays 6, 12 inn.

This story was originally published May 9, 2017 at 10:39 PM with the headline "Royals display fight in 7-6 comeback victory over Rays."