On their way to blowout, Royals come back against Blue Jays 11-10

Paulo Orlando knew the traditional ice-water bath during the postgame interview was coming. He did nothing to avoid it, raising his arms to welcome the gift from Salvador Perez.

“I needed it,” Orlando said. “It was too hot.”

An uncomfortable day became considerably more tolerable for the Royals after a bizarre 11-10 triumph on Sunday in front of 31,962 at Kauffman Stadium.

Orlando’s solo home run in the eighth inning broke a deadlock and was the latest counter in a game that was a blowout, a great comeback and a nail-biter rolled into nine miserably hot innings.

“Crazy game,” Royals starting pitcher Edinson Volquez said.

So much so that the Royals scored six runs in the first inning, with half coming on Kendrys Morales’ three-run homer, and that wasn’t the most productive inning.

The Blue Jays spun the game around by throwing up an eight-spot in the sixth.

“Just one of those days when nothing was going to come easy,” Royals manager Ned Yost said.

Timely hitting and sloppy defense marked the first six innings. The Royals’ failure to record even one out on a double-play ball was critical in the Blue Jays’ sixth.

Two errors by Blue Jays shortstop Jose Reyes accounted for Royals runs in the first and sixth.

Of the game’s 21 runs, only 10 were earned as the teams combined for seven errors.

“It wasn’t a focus issue,” Yost said. “They’re still playing their tails off. It’s the elements you’re fighting. With the heat, the infield got really hard, and it just made for some tough playing conditions.”

The game continued on its twisting path over the final three innings, but the runs didn’t come in bunches, and a defensive play by Perez in the seventh may have been the biggest moment.

The Royals, having lost a 7-0 lead, reclaimed a 10-8 advantage. But the Blue Jays got one back and were poised for more when Kelvin Herrera’s wild pitch sailed past Perez.

The Blue Jays’ Russell Martin easily took third and noticed Herrera not moving toward the plate. Martin rounded third hard.

At that point, the ball had caromed back to Perez, whose throw to the bag caught Martin.

“Phenomenal play,” Yost said. “That saved us.”

The Royals got out of the inning with a 10-9 lead and looked golden with relievers Wade Davis and Greg Holland available.

But the Blue Jays’ Kevin Pillar opened the eighth by slashing a triple against Davis over the head of right fielder Alex Rios. Reyes brought him in with a single, and Davis had surrendered his second run in 39 innings this season, raising his ERA to 0.46.

On a day when neither side could hold momentum for long, the Royals got the run back in the eighth on Orlando’s home run.

“Fast ball, inside,” Orlando said. “I got a pretty good swing.

Maybe his second-best swing of a home stand in which the Royals won eight of 11. Earlier in the week, Orlando beat the Tampa Bay Rays with a walk-off grand slam.

Sunday’s blast occurred in front of Orlando’s wife, Fabricia, and daughter, Maria, who had traveled all night from Brazil to arrive at the game.

The game’s nature would not allow a ninth inning without stress, and Holland served up a one-out walk. But Martin stuck out swinging, and Perez gunned down pinch runner Ryan Goins attempting to steal.

The Blue Jays were in position for an epic victory, overcoming a seven-run deficit. The Royals hadn’t lost a lead of more than four runs in a game this season, and they were reeling after Toronto’s eight-run sixth.

“The key is, you take the lead there after being down, you got to get some outs,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “You got to have some shutdown innings.”

But the Royals battled back, from a position they couldn’t have imagined early in the game, and improved to 52-34, the most victories by the club heading into the All-Star break since the 1973 team won 55. But that All-Star Game was played on July 24.

When it was suggested to Yost that such a first half might be unexpected for a team that went to its first postseason in nearly 30 years last season, Yost disagreed.

“I saw this coming three years ago,” he said. “For me, it’s the way it’s supposed to be.”

Yost, his coaching staff and six Royals players won’t get a break in the next few days. They’re headed to the All-Star Game in Cincinnati. Seven Royals were voted in or selected, but outfielder Alex Gordon can’t play because of an injured groin.

The Royals’ lead in the American League Central remains at 4 1/2 because the Twins are also one of baseball’s hottest teams and own the AL’s second-best record.

The Royals will pick up that concern on Friday, when the season’s second half begins. For now, they get a break.

This story was originally published July 12, 2015 at 4:42 PM with the headline "On their way to blowout, Royals come back against Blue Jays 11-10."