First, the Kanas City Royals were down 7-0 after the first inning, then 8-0 going into the fourth inning.
And they won.
More specifically, they beat the Seattle Mariners 10-9 on Friday night in one of the most thrilling games of the season, chipping away at the lead before finally winning on a walk-off fielder’s choice in the ninth inning. They are now 38-26, just three games behind the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central Division.
The Mariners’ run came in a first inning that Royals starter Daniel Lynch IV just couldn’t finish. After a Julio Rodriguez single and two hit-by-pitch hits loaded the bases with one out, Lynch got Cal Raleigh out on a fly to short left field and then needed just one strike to keep the score at zero before walking Mitch Garver to score the first run.
Mitch Haniger and Victor Robles each hit doubles, Ryan Bliss sealed the win with a two-run homer, and Ty France hit an RBI double to put Seattle ahead by eight after three innings.
Kansas City rallied back in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs, then three more in the sixth to make it 9-7. The Royals were now set for the ninth, when Nick Loftin and Garrett Hampson both reached base to score the first runs in the bottom of the inning.
MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. then tied the game with a quick triple.
The Mariners nearly forced extra innings when they intentionally walked the next two batters to force a force out at home. Nelson Velazquez hit a ball to shortstop for a double play, which JP Crawford barely caught but stumbled while moving to throw to second base.
The ball came close to getting the out, but it was too late to reach first base. The Royals won.
According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, this is just the fifth time in the last 50 seasons that a team has won a game after finishing the first inning trailing 7-0 or less. No team has done this since Cleveland in 1995.
For Whitt, it was a Gatorade shower well worth the wait.
