The Kansas City Royals looked down and out on Tuesday night.
Trailing 4-0 through seven innings, the Royals were in danger of dropping a series against the last-place Chicago White Sox, which would have put a serious dent in their playoff push. Instead, they conjured their best rally of the year when they needed it most.
With two runs in the top of the eighth and three in the ninth, the Royals stormed to a 5-4 win over Chicago. Later in the evening, as the Seattle Mariners fell against the San Diego Padres, they gained a game in the American League wild card race.
If you were a Royals fan watching on Tuesday night, you might have thought, “Wow, it feels like it’s been forever since they came back from a deficit like that.” Turns out, you’d be entirely correct.
According to Nick Kappel, the Royals’ director of media relations, Kansas City hadn’t come back from a deficit that big, that late, in over 28 years.
“Tonight was the first time the (Royals) won a road game in which they trailed by at least 4 runs after the 7th inning since July 19, 1997 at Seattle,” Kappel wrote on X.
A big two-run single from Maikel Garcia in the eighth got the Royals within striking distance. Then, after three more singles loaded the bases, Michael Massey drove home a pair with a liner that dunked into right field, and Kyle Isbel provided the eventual dagger with a low liner up the middle.
The moment was especially big for Massey, who picked up his first hit after a two-month stint on the injured list.
The Royals now trail the Mariners by three games for the final wild card spot, with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox 4 1/2 and five games clear of Kansas City, respectively. ESPN gives them a 14.3% chance of making it to October — but it would have been a lot lower than that had they failed to come back on Tuesday night.
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