'I don't know how it happened': Soler's late homer lifts Royals to a win over the A's

On a Saturday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium that almost seemed destined for extra innings, outfielder Jorge Soler became the latest victim of the Salvy Splash.

He’d barely had time to shake off the adrenaline that spiked his bloodstream when he strong-armed a one-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning that provided the Royals' lead in a 5-4 win over the A’s.

As the ice water ran down his back, Soler barely had had time to come to terms with having hit a homer at all.

"I don’t know how it happened," Soler said in Spanish.

Having charged out of the box after reaching for an 0-2, 78 mph curveball just outside the zone, Soler thought the ball would hold up. After all, Salvador Perez had just crushed a fly ball that died mere feet in front of the center-field wall for an out.

But as he rounded first base, Soler lifted his head.

Oakland’s outfielders had stopped in their tracks. Action on the field had almost come to a halt.

In a split-second, the scene came together: Soler had clobbered Yusmeiro Petit’s pitch 393 feet into the Sonic Slam seats in left field. Royals fans climbed to their feet as the main theme song from “Angels in the Outfield” rang out over the stadium’s speakers.

“I was just trying to make contact and not strike out,” Soler said. “Thankfully I got that hard swing.”

Soler took rookie reliever Tim Hill — who had spoiled Jason Hammel's six-plus inning start by allowing the A's to tie the game in the eighth inning — off the hook. Soler also saved Royals manager Ned Yost from further taxing a bullpen that had endured an extra-innings affair and a pair of short starts in the Royals' previous three games.

“For the first time in nine years, when Salvy hit that ball to center, I cussed the ballpark,” Yost said. “I thought that ball was gone. But then Soler made me feel a lot better.”

Hill became the victor for the first time in his career. Kelvin Herrera threw a perfect ninth inning to secure his 13th save of the season and the Royals' seventh win in 11 games.

Small ball: Not even 24 hours after being crushed in a series-opening 16-0 loss, the Royals scored twice in each of the first two innings off A’s starter and former Royals pitcher Trevor Cahill. Jon Jay led off the bottom of the first inning with a single to right field and scored ahead of Whit Merrifield on Salvador Perez’s two-run double.

But in the second inning, the Royals were a little more inventive. With two outs and no one on base, Ryan Goins laid down a bunt that scuttled towards the mound as he ran to beat the throw from catcher Maxwell. The first-base umpire called Goins out, but the Royals won their challenge of the ruling.

The reversal tipped over some dominoes: Alcides Escobar and Jon Jay hit back-to-back RBI extra-base hits to increase the Royals’ lead to 4-0 before Merrifield struck out to end the inning.

“The team came out with the desire to play good baseball,” Soler said. “Thankfully we got the victory. We’re going to keep playing games and try to take it game by game.”

Roster moves: The Royals claimed outfielder Rosell Herrera, a 25-year-old switch-hitter who four years ago was one of Baseball America’s top 100 prospects, off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds. He was optioned to Class AAA Omaha.

The Royals transferred pitcher Nathan Karns to the 60-day disabled list to make room for Herrera on the 40-man roster. Karns has battled right elbow inflammation all season and hasn’t pitched in a game since his final spring-training outing on March 22. He hasn't pitched in a regular-season game since last May, a few months before he underwent surgery to relieve thoracic outlet syndrome.

Herrera, meanwhile, made his major-league debut with the Reds in late April. He batted .154 (2 for 13) with five strikeouts in 11 games before being designated for assignment on Friday.

According to Baseball America, he signed with the Rockies for $550,000 out of the Dominican Republic in 2009. After hitting .343 with 16 home runs, 33 triples and 76 RBIs in 126 games in the low Class A South Atlantic League, he spent the next two seasons with the Rockies’ Class A-Advanced affiliate in the California League. He reached Class AAA last year, hit .278 with 27 RBIs and was granted free-agency at the end of the season.

Herrera is a career .276/.346/.387 hitter in the minor leagues. A threat on the base paths, he’s swiped 132 bags in 188 attempts (70 percent).

Up next: The Royals, who improved to 21-37, send Jakob Junis to the mound to close out this six-game home stand on Sunday afternoon. The Royals have not lost a series since the Yankees took two of three from them on May 18-20.

This story was originally published June 2, 2018 at 4:28 PM with the headline "'I don't know how it happened': Soler's late homer lifts Royals to a win over the A's."