Major League Baseball

Soak it in, KC: Royals exorcise city's three decades' worth of demons

Published Oct. 1, 2014 4:41 a.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

Images. Such fabulous images on the most glorious night of baseball in Kansas City in 29 years, one of the most glorious nights in this franchise's and the sport's history.

Salvador Perez, author of the game-winning hit in the 12th inning, raising both his fists to the crowd behind the home dugout, and the fans raising their fists in a return salute, a city and a team seemingly in perfect unison.

Royals assistant general manager Dean Taylor, walking out of the victorious clubhouse asking, "Have you ever seen a better game?" Royals pitcher Jason Vargas holding two bottles of champagne and saying, "craziest thing I've ever been involved in."

And there, in the lobby outside the clubhouse, rookie left-hander Brandon Finnegan's girlfriend Carly telling him, "You did so good!" then posing with him for a selfie as Finnegan's parents Gary and Betty stood nearby, beaming.

Images. So many images we will take from Tuesday night's American League Wild Card game, a game in which the Royals trailed the Athletics, 7-3 in the sixth, 7-6 in the ninth and 8-7 in the 12th — and yet won 9-8.

The Royals tied the score on a crazy infield chop by rookie Christian Colon, who entered the game with 45 career at-bats. They won it on Perez's two-out, two-strike single down the third-base line past a diving Josh Donaldson — Perez's first hit in six at-bats on the night.

Outside the Royals' clubhouse, manager Ned Yost told a well-wisher, "Glad you enjoyed it." The look on Yost's face was one of joy, but also of relief. The crowd — the polite, tolerant, good-natured Midwestern crowd — had booed Yost mercilessly after one of the more ill-conceived managing decisions you will ever see.

Players and former players texted me that Yost should be fired after he pulled right-hander "Big Game" James Shields in favor of rookie righty Yordano Ventura in the sixth inning. Yost chose Ventura, a starting pitcher, over a bullpen full of accomplished relievers. Moss hit a three-run homer, his second of the game, triggering a five-run rally.

At that point, I started writing a column comparing Yost to former Red Sox manager Grady Little, who was fired after sticking too long with Pedro Martinez in Game 7 of the 2003 American League Championship Series.

Red Sox fans, who at that point were still waiting for the "Curse of the Bambino" to end, would not have tolerated Little's return. And I'm not sure Royals fans would have tolerated Yost's return if the night had ended in bitter defeat.

But it did not.

Billy Butler, another potential Royals goat, at least got to atone for his base-running blunder in the first inning; he delivered his second RBI single of the night in the Royals' three-run eighth. The Royals left two in scoring position that inning. They got leadoff singles in the 10th and 11th and failed to score. But there they were, still kicking in the 12th.

Images. Outside the Athletics' clubhouse, first baseman Stephen Vogt quietly hugged his wife and 3-year-old daughter. Manager Bob Melvin left the interview room, looking stricken. The Athletics, champions of the trade deadline, not only had failed to win the AL West, but also a single postseason game.

The game was a microcosm of the A's curious season. They took a big early lead. Wobbled. Barely survived. Then collapsed for good.

During batting practice, a fan heckled the A's, yelling, "Cespedes! Where's Cespedes?" An Athletics executive cracked, "on the mound," referring to left-hander Jon Lester, the pitcher the team acquired with Jonny Gomes from the Red Sox for outfielder Yoenis Cespedes on July 31.

Lester wasn't dominant, but he took a 7-3 lead into the eighth. Still, trouble awaited. Trouble, in fact, had been brewing since the third inning, when catcher Geovany Soto left the game with a jammed thumb, requiring Melvin to insert Derek Norris.

Melvin had started Soto, pairing him with Lester for the first time, because of Norris' difficulties throwing out base stealers. The Royals, the team that led the majors in stolen bases during the regular season, would finish the night with seven steals — including four during their eighth-inning rally.

A steal of third by Jarrod Dyson in the ninth led to Nori Aoki's game-tying sacrifice fly. A steal of second by Colon in the 12th enabled him to score the winning run on Perez's single. The crowd never stopped. The Royals never stopped. "I believe that we will win!" the fans chanted. And sure enough, the players did, too.

The unlikely pitching savior was Finnegan, who began the season at TCU, then was selected by Kansas City with the 17th pick in the June amateur draft. Finnegan, 21, was a starter in college. The Royals still envision him as a starter. But they drafted him thinking he could help them out of the bullpen this season.

If Yost had used Finnegan rather than Ventura to face Moss, the game might never have gone to extra innings. As it turned out, Finnegan shut out the A's in the 10th and 11th, then was removed after a leadoff walk and sacrifice in the 12th.

"I decided to treat it like it was college," Finnegan said. "I had done it 1,000 times. Now make it 1,001. I wasn't scared to go back out there. It was definitely an honor to go back out there."

If the game had remained tied, the Royals were prepared to turn to another of their starting pitchers, righty Jeremy Guthrie. Pitching coach Dave Eiland cracked, "We had Guthrie for 120 pitches if we needed him." Guthrie proclaimed, "I had a great warmup. I was ready to go."

Images. Eric Hosmer, who hit a one-out triple and scored the tying run in the 12th, practically shaking with excitement as he did postgame television interviews on the field. Royals GM Dayton Moore talking to a group of reporters about a vision finally fulfilled. Colon holding a bottle of champagne on the top step of the dugout and yelling to fans, "We're not done yet! We're not done yet!"

"Wasn't that awesome? My heart's still pumping," said Mike Sweeney, who played for the Royals from 1995 to 2007. "I played here all these years and never saw 40,000 screaming until the end. Until midnight."

For once, the Royals didn't turn into pumpkins at that hour, or any other.

On this magical night, they were princes again.

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