The Royals spent most of the night burning through chances, then somehow turned the whole thing around in the 10th.
Carter Jensen delivered the finish, lining a two-run single in the bottom of the inning for his first walk-off hit as a Royal and sending Kansas City to a 7-6 win in a game that kept slipping away and then refusing to end.
The comeback only happened after a long stretch of missed openings. Seth Lugo gave Kansas City a much-needed bounce-back outing, working six innings and allowing two runs, one earned, while striking out three and walking two.
It was his first quality start since July 1 and only his second since June. The first inning already hinted at a weird night, with hard contact producing a Jac Caglianone home-run-robbing chance in right and then a leaping grab by Isaac Collins in left.
Kansas City grabbed the first lead in the second when Lane Thomas opened the inning with the longest home run of his career. But the Royals kept leaving traffic behind. Salvador Perez was hit by a pitch and Michael Massey singled, then in the third Jensen doubled to start the inning and the Royals failed to move him.
The Padres took control in the fifth after getting runners at second and third with one out. Kansas City brought the infield in, Lugo got the ground ball he wanted, but the ball clanged off Massey’s glove and into center, letting both runs score.
The Royals answered in the sixth. Thomas led off with a single to left, Vinnie Pasquantino walked, and Perez hit a routine grounder to Xander Bogaerts at short.
Bogaerts double-clutched and threw it into the outfield, allowing Thomas to score and Pasquantino to reach third. Even then, the inning stalled out with Massey striking out and Nick Loftin giving the Padres another double-play chance they converted.
The game was tied, but only barely.
Kansas City had more chances later and kept finding new ways not to cash in. Steven Cruz handled the seventh and John Schreiber the eighth before Caglianone singled to right to begin the bottom of the eighth.
Tyler Tolbert pinch-ran and stole second, Lane Thomas moved him to third with a grounder, and Pasquantino needed only to lift the ball. Instead, he chopped one back to Adrian Morejon.
The contact play was on, Tolbert tried to sell Morejon, and he was thrown out at the plate.
Still, the Royals kept pushing. Pasquantino stole his fourth base of the year, Morejon threw a strike to Salvy before the Padres intentionally walked him, and Massey then watched two 100+ MPH sinkers before missing the third.
Alex Lange came in for the ninth and got two outs before Ty France tied it with a home run.
Kansas City then wasted a golden chance against Mason Miller in the bottom of the ninth. Isaac Collins singled on the left-field line, Jensen doubled off the wall in right, and after Miller intentionally walked Bobby to face Tolbert, the Royals went to Josh Rojas off the bench. He struck out, Lane Thomas struck out, and Pasquantino struck out.
In the 10th, Matt Quatraro turned to Lucas Erceg, and the Padres quickly made him pay. Miguel Andujar worked some awkward swings on sliders away before doubling down the first-base line for the go-ahead run.
Erceg then bobbled a Sung-Mun Song sacrifice bunt, putting runners at first and third with no outs. Fernando Tatis Jr. followed with a single over the drawn-in infield to score another run, and Song later crossed on a sacrifice fly by Bogaerts.
That left the Royals needing a rally just to keep the game alive. By rule, they still had to bat in the bottom of the 10th, and the Padres sent Kyle Hart out to try for his first big league save.
Salvy poked one into left to put runners at the corners, Massey followed with an infield single for a run, and Loftin laid down a bunt that was too good for Hart to ignore. Collins then chopped a slow roller to the right side, and the Padres could only get one out, setting the stage for Jensen.
He saw a sinker down the middle, then another, and on the second one he sent a soft roller into left past a diving Bogaerts. Because it stayed so soft, Loftin was able to score from second with the winning run.
Lucas Erceg got the win, Seth Lugo and Mason Miller both got nothing for their work, and Alex Lange took his first blown save as a Royal. Kansas City was 1-for-15 with runners in scoring position before the 10th and finished 5-for-20. It was an improbable win in a frustrating year, and the Royals can still take the series tomorrow afternoon.
Griffin Canning will pitch for the Padres, while the Royals still have TBD as of this writing. It will not be Stephen Kolek, since the Royals want him to make a rehab start before returning from the family medical emergency list. First pitch is set for 3:10 PM Central.
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