KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In the season's first two weeks, trailing has become normal for the Royals. Losing has not.
Kansas City has trailed at some point in each of its last 10 games but pulled out seven victories over that stretch, including Tuesday night's 6-5 win over Minnesota. Against the Twins on Tuesday, the Royals trailed 5-4 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. They had six outs to avoid defeat and pull out their 11th win of the season.
Catcher Salvador Perez led off with a single, then Jarrod Dyson pinch-ran for him and advanced to third on outfielder Paulo Orlando's single. Christian Colon, starting in place of injured second baseman Omar Infante, grounded out to second, driving in Dyson and pushing Orlando to third.
Two batters later, third baseman Mike Moustakas struck for his third RBI of the night, this one a single dumped into left field that gave Kansas City a 6-5 lead. Wade Davis closed out the ninth inning to pick up his third save of the season.
"We don't ever give up," Moustakas said. "We don't ever feel like we're out of a ballgame. That wild-card game last year really put everything in perspective for us. We never feel like we're out of contention in any game, especially with the lineup we have now."
Kansas City also pulled off comeback victories in their previous two games, Monday's 7-1 win over Minnesota and Sunday's 4-2 win against Oakland.
On Monday, the deficit came early but wasn't overtaken until late. The Twins led 1-0 in the second before watching Kansas City score the game's next seven runs, all but one coming in the sixth inning or later.
On Sunday, Oakland jumped out to a 2-0 lead but the Royals responded with four unanswered runs, three in a decisive eighth inning. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain's double tied the game, while DH Kendrys Morales' two-bagger lifted Kansas City to the win.
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"We got the pieces," Colon said. "We got the pieces and we got the heart, and we got the guys to do it with. The confidence level is up. We feel like we can come back at any point. The guys believe in each other."
In their first 11 games, the Royals were 0-3 when trailing after seven innings. Since Sunday, they are 2-0 in such situations. Kansas City is also 6-2 when the opponent scores first.
"These guys believe in each other," pitcher Jason Vargas said. "They pull for one another. Just have an extreme amount of confidence and really playing good baseball."
You can follow Luke Thompson on Twitter at @FS_LukeT or email him at lukegthompson87@gmail.com.
