Royals’ wild Opening Day win featured something unseen in MLB since at least 1906
On April 18, 1929, the Philadelphia Phillies mounted a furious ninth-inning rally against the New York Giants that came up just short.
The Giants led by a run going to the ninth inning of that season opener and scored six times to seemingly put the game out of reach. But in the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies scored five times and had the tying run at the plate. However, Pinky Whitney popped out to end the game and New York won 11-9.
Among the players who took the field that day in Philadelphia: Carl Hubbell, Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Edd Roush, Travis Jackson, Freddie Lindstrom and Lefty O’Doul.
Nearly 92 years would pass before two teams would score five or more runs in an inning on Opening Day. It happened Thursday in the Royals’ wild 14-10 win over the Rangers at Kauffman Stadium.
It was 5-5 after the first inning, which was even more rare. The Royals said it was the first Opening Day game since at least 1906 in which both teams scored four runs or more in the first inning.
The Royals battled back from deficits of five runs and three runs, and manager Mike Matheny was thrilled.
“Just very rare do you have games like that,” Matheny said, “let alone on your first game of the season and in front of your home crowd.”
Here are eight other statistical oddities from Thursday’s opener, via the Royals and Twitter user Doug Kern, a former ESPN employee.
The Royals won despite allowing at least 10 runs for the first time since July 12, 2015 when they beat the Blue Jays 11-10. The Royals had been 0-70 in such games.
The Royals had scored five runs in the previous two Opening Day games combined. They were shut out last year on four hits.
Outfielder Michael A. Taylor had a great Royals debut. He is one of only four players in team team history with three hits and three RBIs on Opening Day. The others: Álex Ríos (2015), Mark Grudzielanek (2007) and Amos Otis (1977).
Taylor was one of three Royals to hit a home run on Thursday (Jorge Soler and Whit Merrifield were the others). It’s the third time the Royals have hit three homers on Opening Day.
- 2004: Benito Santiago, Mendy Lopez and Carlos Beltrán
- 1983: Jerry Martin, George Brett and Willie Aikens
Rookie Kyle Isbel had three hits. Only three other Royals have had three hits in their big-league debut:
- Mark Quinn on Sept. 14, 1999 vs. the Angels (G2)
- Johnny Damon on Aug. 12, 1995 vs. Seattle
- Kevin Koslofski on June 28, 1992 at Baltimore
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 9:48 AM.
