It seems like every game played at the Ballpark in Arlington is just one of those odd games where it is hard to explain a summary to your friends, and Friday night was certainly one filled with many storylines.
After both teams slugged it out over the first two innings, with the Rangers holding a 7-6 lead after just two innings, the pitching held true until the ninth inning, and then again until the 14th inning, when Kansas City piled on five runs against Texas pitcher Dave Bush as the Royals snapped a five-game slide.
Kansas City started the game with three consecutive doubles in racing out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first against Rangers starter Colby Lewis. Texas answered with five runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, capped by a two-run David Murphy home run, facing Royals starter Nathan Adcock.
Adcock, in his second start of the year, lasted just 2.2 innings giving up seven runs on eight hits. However, six Royals relievers combined to pitch 11.1 innings of scoreless relief Friday evening, giving up just four hits the rest of the way to allow Kansas City to stay in the game and eventually come away with the win. Felipe Paulino, acquired late Thursday evening from the Colorado Rockies, was particularly good in throwing 4.1 innings of one hit baseball with three strikeouts in his Royals debut.
Onto the ninth inning and with one out, Alex Gordon hit a 423 foot home run to right off Rangers closer Neftali Feliz to tie the game at sevens. Feliz is now 10-for-13 in save opportunities on the season, with all three blown saves coming at the hands of the Royals. For Gordon it was his sixth home run of the season.
Moving to the 14th inning and still in a 7-7 tie, the Royals went on the offensive facing Bush, scoring five times via three home runs to win 12-7. Melky Cabrera and Eric Hosmer both hit solo home runs, while Brayan Pena later added a three-run home run to center. Cabrera now has seven home runs and a team leading 33 RBI, while Hosmer had four hits on the evening, and now has four home runs an 11 RBI in 19 games at the big league level.
The trio of home runs in the 14th was the first time since September 29th, 2006 that the Royals have done so. That day against the Tigers, Emil Brown, Paul Phillips, and Jeff Keppinger all went deep in the 11th inning.
Joakim Soria pitched a scoreless bottom half of the inning as Kansas City improved to 23-27, while Texas fell to 26-25. Bush took the loss and is 0-1, while Blake Wood picked up the win and is 2-0. The box score from the wild game can be viewed here.
Saturday's game will be one of a handful of games televised nationally by Fox, as Sean O'Sullivan (2-3 5.60 ERA) and the Royals look to build a winning streak, facing Matt Harrison (4-4 3.62). Game time is 6:10.