HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
04/16/2012
In what was headed to be a game in the wrong category for the Royals record book, ended the exact opposite.
Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Royals were being one hit by Indians starter
Chuck James. The Royals had only hit two balls out of the infield before the ninth and they were struggling mightly. "Ill give it to James, he owned our batters today. He pitched one hell of a game. I have no idea how we managed that comeback." said manager
Antonio DeLeon.
With practically all of the thirty-seven thousand fans out of the ballpark, the Royals pulled off one of the most incredible comebacks in NABL history.
To start off the ninth, the nine batter
Teo Aguinaldo led off with a walk.
Peter Friel followed that up with a bunt that resulted in a hit. "They gave me the bunt sign and I knew with my speed I could leg it out. And it worked out perfectly." said Friel.
So with two on and no outs,
Santiago Rao came to the plate. He also laid down a bunt, but his was a bit more exciting. The Indians 2B
Jose Castillo fielded the ball cleanly but then threw the ball over the first baseman's head, resulting in Rao reaching second and Aguinaldo to score courtesy of the error.
So with runners in scoring position, the always dangerous
Gene Marguez came to bat. He grounded a 1-2 pitch between first and second which plated Friel and Rao.
So before the Indians knew it, James's one hitter masterpiece was gone and the Royals were in striking distance down 6-3. The Indians replaced James with their closer,
Eduardo Sierra. He did not fare much better.
With Marguez on first,
William Quattlebaum strolled to the plate with no outs. He promptly drilled the 0-1 pitch, 352 feet over the right field fence. "When I came to the plate I could feel the momentum swing. Our team was in the game again and you could tell Sierra did not want to be out there." proclaimed Quattlebaum.
So the Royals were now down just 6-5 to the Indians after only managing one hit in the first eight innings. Talk about not giving up.
Next up after Quattlebaum was
Kevin McCreight. He also contributed to the hit parade with a double of his own. Now the Royals had another runner in scoring position with no outs and down by one.
David Adam was up next but he recorded the first out of the inning with a flyball to center field. "When Adam came up, I was not sure what to do." said DeLeon. "I wanted to move over Kevin but do you sac hit with a guy that has Adam's power. It was a gamble that didn't pay off this time."
After Adam's out,
Michael Cuddyer drew a full count walk to put two men on with one out.
Freddie Bynum entered the batters box with all the pressure in the world and he struck out.
With Teo Aguinaldo due up next, Antonio DeLeon decided to pinch hit for him. In came backup catcher
Javy Herrera. "I just felt right about bringing Javy in." said DeLeon.
And on the 0-1 pitch, Herrera picked up his first hit of the year. It was a 386 foot home run over right center. "When I hit it, I knew it was gone." said Herrera. "I just wanted to get around the bases so we could celebrate."
The Royals celebrated at home plate like they had just won the World Series. Down 6-0 with three outs, the Royals scratched and clawed their way to an 8-6 win.
Who knows if this win, which moved the Royals 7-2, will motivate the guys to never give up in a game, but it should sure motivate all the fans that left and gave up on their team today. Lets go Royals!!!