NewsRoyals stun Tribe with four-run ninth
Two homers, RBI triple off Wood set the table
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
05/20/09 12:46 AM ET
KANSAS CITY -- It was the comeback of the year for the Royals. Or perhaps of many years.The Royals rallied with four runs in the ninth inning against Cleveland closer Kerry Wood to stun the Indians, 6-5, on Tuesday night in front of 25,024 screaming fans at Kauffman Stadium.
"It's a huge team win, probably the biggest one of the year by far," said Mike Jacobs, who ignited the comeback with a home run.
In fact, archivists found this was the first time the Royals had rallied from three or more runs down in the ninth inning for a walk-off win since Opening Day, April 5, 2004. That was a six-run ninth against the White Sox, when Mendy Lopez's three-run homer tied the score and Carlos Beltran's two-run shot won it, 9-7.
This one was no less electrifying for the 2009 Royals.
"That's why you play the game," said Willie Bloomquist, who knocked in the winning run. "That gets your adrenaline going, your heart pumping, and it's gratifying when you do it against somebody like that."
Somebody like that was Wood, the big-horse closer who replaced Indians starter Cliff Lee for the ninth inning. Lee left with a 5-2 lead and that actually gave the Royals a glimmer of hope.
"It's definitely good to see him out of the game because he's been so tough against us," David DeJesus said.
Yep, Lee was 12-5 in his career against the Royals and had battled Brian Bannister, his mound opponent this night, hard in a 2-0 loss on April 22 at Cleveland. Now Lee was gone, but Wood got Jose Guillen to ground out for the first out.
Up came Jacobs, who thought he walked on a 3-1 pitch until he heard plate umpire Bill Miller call strike two. Jacobs came back to the plate and hammered the 3-2 pitch, on the ninth fastball from Wood, over the right-field wall.
"I threw some breaking balls, but they weren't very good, so they were sitting pretty much fastball -- and that's what happens when you don't have a second pitch," Wood said.
On the next pitch, another fastball, Mark Teahen blasted a home run over the left-field wall. Suddenly, it was 5-4, and the fans were roaring.
"Mine was set up by Jake seeing all those pitches and for me to be on deck and get a little timing," Teahen said. "I knew [Wood] was going to be aggressive with his fastball, so I got a barrel to it."
Miguel Olivo worked Wood for a 3-1 count.
"Three-one, most of the pitchers throw me a slider for a ball and normally, I don't swing," Olivo said. "I said to myself, 'I'm going to hit 3-2,' and he threw me the slider and I got a walk."
That brought up DeJesus, who had homered against Wood on April 21 at Cleveland.
"I just wanted to get a fastball and I was able to hit it in the right spot," DeJesus said. "They were shading me the other way, and I saw it land in the outfield and I said, 'I'm going three."
While the ball rolled into deep right-center field, Mitch Maier, running for Olivo, scampered home with the tying run.
DeJesus' triple put him 90 feet from a victory, and Bloomquist got it by lofting a fly ball to right field.
"I knew I hit it pretty deep, but I've played with Shin-Soo Choo before and I know what kind of arm he has, so you don't start counting until DeJesus crosses the plate there," Bloomquist said.
But DeJesus was home safely and the Royals stormed out of the dugout to celebrate an improbable victory.
It certainly didn't look that way for a long time this night.
Bannister found himself in a 5-1 hole after his six innings of work. Successive singles by Choo and Mark DeRosa in the sixth preceded a run-scoring double play. Bannister plunked Matt LaPorta with a pitch, then served up a 3-2 home run pitch for Kelly Shoppach. The blast landed in the lower left-field seats.
LaPorta singled in a run in the fourth and so did Victor Martinez, the noted .400 hitter, in the first.
The fifth looked promising for the Tribe after singles by Luis Valbuena, but first baseman Billy Butler snagged Grady Sizemore's grounder, stepped on first and started a 3-6-3-4-2 double play. The play ended with Valbuena knocking Olivo down as he made the tag.
"He smoked me," Olivo said, "but I held the ball."
Although Olivo took a step toward Valbuena, Bannister quickly interceded. Later, Olivo said he had no intention of retaliating for the hit.
Lee held the Royals to just two runs on eight hits and no walks. He looked invincible. Fortunately for the Royals, Wood did not.
"We haven't been playing great lately, but this is a huge win to come back against a division rival and a closer of that stature," Bloomquist said. "So hopefully, we can keep this momentum and get on a [long] winning streak again."
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
