Royals erase deficit and power past Twins in 11-6 victory

Salvador Perez stood atop first base and slapped his hands together. He pounded his chest once. He looked into the Royals’ dugout inside Kauffman Stadium and screamed into the warm afternoon air.

A baseball comeback does happen in one at-bat or one moment. The task requires pressure and time and, in this case, the 32-ounce hammer of Perez, the Royals’ All-Star catcher. Yet here was the aftermath of the final blow.

In an 11-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday afternoon, the Royals channeled their inner Andy Dufresne, finding redemption on a two-out, two-run single from Perez in the bottom of the sixth inning.

The deadlock-breaking single came against Twins reliever Tyler Duffey and capped a three-run sixth inning. The rally delivered an 8-6 lead, the Royals’ first of the day. In the first game of a doubleheader against a division rival, Kansas City weathered a 5-1 deficit after 3  1/2 innings and exploded for 10 runs over their final five times at the plate.

“He threw me a breaking ball,” Perez said. “He just left it in the middle of the plate.”

The Royals (40-39 after the victory in the first game of the doubleheader) wiped out Twins starter Jose Berrios and bludgeoned the Minnesota bullpen into submission. They rendered moot a short performance from rookie starter Luke Farrell in his major-league debut for the Royals. When the comeback was over, the Royals had moved into a tie with the Twins for second place in the American League Central. As a clubhouse of players prepared for the second game, slated for 7:35 p.m. Saturday night, the Royals needed just one victory in the second game or on Sunday to secure a victory in the four-game set.

Its back against the wall, the Royals offense clubbed four home runs. As the runs came across, the bullpen showed its depth, allowing just one run in 6  1/3 innings.

“They just grinded, man,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of his relief corps. “They held the fort for the offense.”

For the first time in club history, the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth hitters homered in the same game. The blasts laid the foundation for a second consecutive victory over the Twins and a third in 10 games this season.

Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas ignited the charge with a solo homer in the fourth, his 22nd homer of the year. Moments later, Alcides Escobar sliced the Twins’ lead to 5-4 with a two-run blast to left-center field.

Moustakas matched his career high in homers in a season, set in 2015; he also tied Jermaine Dye for the most homers by a Royals hitter before the All-Star break.

The show of offensive force was just starting to come together. In the bottom of the fifth, a slumping Brandon Moss would even the game at 5-5 with a mammoth 474-foot homer off Berrios. The baseball soared over the batter’s eye, deep in center field. The distance represented the sixth longest homer in the majors this season, according to Statcast estimates, and the longest by a Royal in the last three seasons.

The Twins would strike back with a run in the sixth. But the Royals’ onslaught was still building. Second baseman Ramon Torres tied the game at 6-6 by serving a soft RBI double to left field in the bottom half of the inning. Moments later, after a drawn-in infield had robbed Eric Hosmer of a single, Perez delivered a single to left-center field. One inning later, Alex Gordon put the game out of reach with a three-run homer to right field, a 407-foot shot that pushed the lead to 11-6.

The afternoon, of course, did not begin on a promising note. The Royals found themselves in a four-run hole after Farrell allowed five runs in 2  2/3 innings. The son of Red Sox manager John Farrell, Farrell was activated before the game and assumed the role of “26th man,” in accordance with rules for a doubleheader.

His father in attendance, his dream at his fingertips, Farrell was poised to craft some magic in his major-league debut. All that was missing was the performance. He issued three walks. He allowed a booming homer to Minnesota’s Miguel Sano in the third.

“I don’t think I got ahead of myself or the game sped up too much,” Farrell said. “It was kind of an intent … I pitched away from the edge a little bit too much in that second inning. The third inning, I got back in the zone too much.”

Once Farrell exited, the Royals turned to left-hander Matt Strahm, who survived an inning before exiting with left knee inflammation. Strahm was placed on the 10-day disabled list after the game and replaced on the roster by right-hander Miguel Almonte.

Scott Alexander would calm the waters with 1  1/3 scoreless innings, while Mike Minor would allow a run over two innings, picking up the win.

In the end, the Royals seized control. Moss finished 3 for 4 with his first homer since May 26. Gordon and Escobar recorded three RBIs each. Perez put the Royals over the top in the sixth.

“Anybody can win one,” Perez said, sitting in the clubhouse before the second game. “We just got to play hard again.”

Royals 11, Twins 6

First game

This story was originally published July 1, 2017 at 5:02 PM with the headline "Royals erase deficit and power past Twins in 11-6 victory."