Salvador Perez reveals Royals caught break on game-winning hit in 2014 Wild Card Game
The Royals seemed to be a team of destiny during postseason runs in 2014 and 2015.
But if an Oakland A’s coach had not instructed Josh Donaldson to move a few feet to his left, who knows what would have transpired?
Donaldson was playing third base for Oakland in the 12th inning of the 2014 American League Wild Card Game. The Royals had tied the game in the bottom of the frame at Kauffman Stadium and Christian Colon was at second base with two outs.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez yanked a two-strike curveball out of the zone down the third-base line, barely out of Donaldson’s reach, and Colon scored the game-winning run.
Perez broke down the plate appearance that capped the most memorable Royals game in franchise history in a video shared on the team’s YouTube page.
“After two strikes, I just wanted to make contact. I remember that I reached for that ball when I put it in play with two outs,” Perez said.
“I had the opportunity to talk to Donaldson, I don’t remember what year, but he told me he wanted to play me on the line and his coach told him to move (to) the 6 hole (shortstop). ... Donaldson wanted to play on the line but they moved him a little bit to the other side. It was good for the coach to tell him that.”
Yep, that defensive maneuver was good for the Royals, who won 9-8, starting an eight-game postseason winning streak.
The Royals may have won even if the game went to the 13th inning or beyond, but they caught a break on Donaldson’s positioning during Perez’s plate appearance.
“It was one of the best moments in my career and we were super happy,” Perez said of his clutch hit. “I don’t remember anything after that.”
Here is Perez talking about that 12th inning:
This story was originally published March 26, 2021 at 8:30 AM.
