How the Royals pulled out an improbable road victory over the Mariners in extras
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Perez singled in ninth and was replaced by pinch runner Lane Thomas who advanced on balk.
- Maikel Garcia hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the 10th that made it 3-2.
- Emerson Hancock recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts and did not factor into the decision.
The Kansas City Royals refused to quit.
It would’ve been easy to do so after being outmatched by Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Emerson Hancock on Saturday night at T-Mobile Park. The right-hander had a career night with 14 strikeouts and looked every bit like a frontline ace in the making.
The Royals kept chipping away, however. And in the ninth inning they broke through behind Salvador Perez and Jac Caglianone.
“To stay in the fight,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said, “that’s what we talk about all the time. You never know how something is going to turn.”
With the Royals trailing 2-1, Perez began the inning with a single. He was replaced by pinch-runner Lane Thomas, who immediately advanced to second on closer Andres Munoz’s balk. Two batters later, Caglianone hit an RBI single to tie the game 2-2.
The Royals’ bullpen got the game to extra innings. And from there, KC found a way to pull out a 3-2 victory and win the road series outright with one game left here on Sunday.
Maikel Garcia was the hero in the 10th with a go-ahead sacrifice fly. Garcia drove home Michael Massey after the latter made a pair of smart baserunning plays, including a stealing of third and tagging up on Garcia’s shallow fly ball to center.
“You know, the game was close,” Garcia said. “(Hancock) did a great job. Game was on the line, like 2-1, so we can’t give up. We know we have the talent to come back and we did.”
Royals closer Lucas Erceg emerged in the 10th inning to earn his ninth save and second in as many nights. The Royals will look to sweep the Mariners on Sunday afternoon.
Royals silenced early
On a night the Mariners retired Hall of Famer Randy Johnson’s No. 51 jersey, Seattle received a career performance from right-handed starter Emerson Hancock.
And the Royals (14-19) were on the receiving end.
Hancock, 26, recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts Saturday night. His fastball was sharp and allowed him to pitch ahead in counts. The Royals were a step late and Hancock benefited across seven innings.
“He’s got good stuff and he throws from a low slot,” Massey said. “He’s got some rise effect to (the fastball). And he had that sweeper working, as well.”
Per Baseball Savant, Hancock registered 60 swings and 21 whiffs in the game. His heater averaged 95.5 mph with movement. His sinker and sweeper also gave KC’s right-handed hitters trouble.
“I think it was after the fifth inning, I asked the umpire if they brought back Randy Johnson out of retirement,” Royals starter Seth Lugo said. “It was fun to watch on that side, but I’m glad we came out with the win.”
Hancock dominated from the start. He struck out six of the first nine batters he faced. In the fourth, he struck out three Royals in a row: Perez, Carter Jensen and Caglianone.
And he wiggled out of trouble in the sixth. The Royals had two runners aboard, but Hancock struck out Perez again before retiring Jensen and Caglianone to end the inning.
The Royals finished 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base Saturday.
Lugo did his best to keep the game manageable. He surrendered two runs with six strikeouts in six innings.
“I thought I mixed my pitches and I thought I located really well,” Lugo said. “I think that was one of my better located pitch days of the year. So I thought I battled. They put up some good at-bats and made me work for it. But I thought it went pretty well.”
The Mariners scored a first-inning run on Josh Naylor’s RBI single. They added their second after Lugo bounced a 79.8 mph curveball past catcher Jensen at home plate.
The wild pitch came with the bases loaded. Mariners third baseman Leo Rivas came home to score on the play. Seattle (16-18) took the lead and was set up for a big inning.
However, Lugo dodged further trouble when Randy Arozarena was caught between bases to end the threat.
“Yeah, that helped me out pretty good,” Lugo said.
The Royals didn’t overcome that deficit until late in the game. And neither Lugo nor Hancock factored into the decision.
What’s next: Royals left-hander Kris Bubic (2-1, 3.74 ERA) will start opposite Mariners righty Luis Castillo (0-2, 6.35 ERA) in Sunday’s series finale. First pitch is set for 3:10 p.m. Central Time.
This story was originally published May 2, 2026 at 11:52 PM.
