‘It was crazy.’ Royals hit back-to-back homers in ninth inning and stun the Indians

The pitch was supposed to be down and away, but Royals reliever Brandon Maurer instead left a fastball out over the center of the plate.

Cleveland’s Yonder Alonso pounced, hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning of Friday’s game that flipped a Royals advantage into an Indians lead at Kauffman Stadium.

For a Royals team that has seen the bullpen saddled with 29 combined losses and 20 blown saves, this was an all-too-familiar scene this season.

Royals manager Ned Yost called it “deflating at that point.”

But on this night, the young Royals players responded to being knocked down by delivering a knockout punch in the ninth inning for a 5-4 win over the Indians.

Cleveland summoned Cody Allen to close out the game, but Ryan O’Hearn hit the first pitch for an opposite-field homer that tied the score 4-4. Fellow rookie Hunter Dozier then stepped up and yanked a home run just over the right-center field wall for the walk-off win.

The Royals said it was the first time in Major League Baseball history that rookies hit consecutive home runs in the ninth inning or later to win a game.

“Just an incredible game,” said Brad Keller, who started Friday’s contest. “Fun to be part of. That ninth inning was part of it. I was just talking about it, I’ve never seen back-to-back homers to a walk-off game. It was crazy. It’s fun. Baseball everyday is different. That’s what makes it fun.”

Keller was staked to an early lead by catcher Salvador Perez, who hit a three-run home run in first inning as he fulfilled a promise made before the game to a fan.

The Indians got a pair of runs back against Keller, who then had to sit for 30 minutes because of a broken water pipe that flooded the outfield in the fourth inning.

“It was kind of a wild delay,” Keller said. “I don’t think I’ve ever experienced that before.”

Keller pitched a scoreless fifth and handed the 3-2 lead to the bullpen. It stayed that way until the eighth inning when Alonso’s home run gave the Indians the lead.

But another potentially deflating loss turned into a victory against the AL Central-leading Indians.

O’Hearn, who hit his seventh home run in 17 games, said he got a bit of advice from veteran teammate Alex Gordon.

“Gordo,” O’Hearn said, “kind of came up to me and said, ‘Straight fastball. Good fastball. Just kind of get on it, because (Allen’s) curveball and secondary stuff is sharp.’ I didn’t want to get behind and just being aggressive first pitch.”

Dozier was pumped to see his friend and teammate hit the game-tying homer, then turned his focus to doing some damage himself.

As he watched the ball’s trajectory, Dozier wasn’t sure he had gotten it all.

“I didn’t know if it had the distance,” Dozier said. “That’s why I was sprinting around the bases because if it came off the wall, I had to get to third at least. ... Once I saw it hit, I was hoping it was gone.”

The Royals snapped a five-game losing streak and their record improved to 39-90 overall and 19-44 at home. Ugly numbers for certain, but none of that mattered Friday night.

“That was crazy,” Perez said. “I think it was one of the best games of the season to me.”

SURGERY FOR HAHN: Royals right-hander Jesse Hahn, who was on the 60-day disabled list with an ulnar collateral ligament sprain in his right elbow, underwent surgery earlier this month. It wasn’t Tommy John surgery, but a repair of the ligament, which has a quicker recovery time. Hahn could return by early March.

This story was originally published August 25, 2018 at 12:27 AM.