Royals’ ninth-inning rally ended on this base-running blunder in loss to Rays

The Royals didn’t go down without a fight in Wednesday’s 6-3 loss to Tampa Bay. But they did let the Rays off the hook when it was all said and done.

With two outs, Rosell Herrera singled and took second on defensive indifference. Ryan O’Hearn hit a screamer up the middle that was gloved by Rays third baseman Matt Duffy,* but the throw to first was late.

*The Rays were in a defensive shift

Herrera rounded third and for some reason tried to score on the play. Rays first baseman C.J. Cron threw a strike to the plate and Herrera was tagged out to end the game. Herrera didn’t even attempt a slide.

Hunter Dozier, who crushed a two-run homer earlier in the game, was the next scheduled batter and would have represented the tying run. Instead, the game ended.

It was difficult to tell if Herrera thought the ball went to the outfield or misheard/misunderstood something that third-base coach Mike Jirschele was saying.

Whatever the case, this was an ugly ending to the game, as the Rays announcers noted:

This story was originally published August 23, 2018 at 8:27 AM.