First, the Kanas City Royals trailed 7-0 after the first inning. Then they trailed 8-0 in the fourth inning.
Then they won.
More specifically, they beat the Seattle Mariners 10-9 on Friday night in one of the most exciting games of the season, taking away the lead and finally breaking through in the ninth inning with a free fielder’s choice. Their record is now 38-26, just three games behind the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians.
The Mariners’ scoring came in a first inning that never ended for Royals starter Daniel Lynch IV. A single by Julio Rodríguez and two hit-by pitches loaded the bases with one out, then Lynch got Cal Raleigh to fly out to short left. He was one strike away from ending the inning without damage, but Mitch Garver drew a walk to score the first run.
Mitch Haniger and Victor Robles each followed with a double play, then Ryan Bliss threw the exclamation point with a two-run homer. Three innings later, Ty France hit an RBI double to give Seattle an eight-run lead.
Kansas City responded with its own rally in the bottom of the fourth inning to score three runs, then scored three more in the sixth to make it 9-7. That put the Royals on ninth, with Nick Loftin and Garrett Hampson both reaching base to open the bottom of the inning.
Cue MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr., who came through with a quick triple to tie the game.
The Mariners intentionally walked the next two batters to eliminate the power at home and almost forced extras. Nelson Velázquez hit a double play ball short to narrowly snag JP Crawford, but he stumbled on his way to turning the ball toward second base.
The ball got there to get one out, but it was too late to score first. Win, royals.
According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, it was only the fifth time in the past 50 seasons in which a team won a game after leaving the first inning 7–0 or worse. No team had done this since Cleveland in 1995.
It was a well-deserved Gatorade shower for Witt.
