St. Joseph Post
KANSAS CITY (AP) - Salvador Perez hit a game-ending RBI single, and the Kansas City Royals avoided a sweep by topping the Tampa Bay Rays 9-8 Wednesday.
Jorge Soler, Hunter Dozier and Carlos Santana homered for Kansas City, which trailed 6-3 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning.
Manager Mike Matheny says that may have been the most special win of the season so far.
"That Opening Day win was really special," he said, "but I don't know if you could get one much better than that one we just witnessed there, all things considered and how these guys went about it. Man, I'm so proud of them."
Scott Barlow allowed Joey Wendle’s tie breaking RBI double in the ninth inning, but still got the win when the Royals rallied.
Michael A. Taylor sparked the game-ending rally with a leadoff single for Kansas City. Jarrod Dyson came in to run, swiped second and advanced to third on Hanser Alberto's sacrifice bunt against Diego Castillio.
Dyson then slid home safely on Nicky Lopez's safety squeeze, tying it at 8. After Lopez advanced on a groundout, Santana was intentionally walked before Perez lined a 2-1 pitch up the third-base line for the winning hit.
Kansas City has the day off Thursday, but then open a nine-game road trip on Friday, starting with a four-game series at Detroit. Friday’s game starts at 6:10 central. Coverage starts at 5:30 on KFEQ Radio - 680 AM and 95.3 FM in St. Joseph.