DENVER — When it started to look like the Kansas City Royals’ road trip would come to a painfully bleak end amid a squandered a six-run lead, Salvador Perez delivered in crucial circumstances and saved the day in a wild game that featured no shortage of emotional swings.
Perez’s two-run single in the top of the ninth inning rescued the Royals as they escaped with an 8-7 win over the Colorado Rockies in front of an announced 34,505 in the rubber match of a three-game series at Coors Field on Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, the Royals finished their road trip 4-5.
Initially, this seemed like one of those days Royals followers could dream on — that sweet, restful dream of a child on Christmas Eve, nothing but joy and glee ahead. But the dream took a nightmarish turn in the seventh inning.
A six-run Royals lead dwindled away in the matter of one inning with three relievers — Collin Snider, Amir Garrett and Taylor Clarke — each giving up runs in the frame. A throwing error by second baseman Nicky Lopez contributing to a pair of unearned runs in a seven-run inning that flipped the game in the Rockies’ favor.
Andrew Benintendi (walk) and Ryan O’Hearn (single) reached as pinch-hitters in the ninth to set up Perez’s heroics.
Whit Merrifield, Emmanuel Rivera and Bobby Witt Jr. each smacked home runs for the Royals. Witt’s gave him homers in back-to-back games for the first time in his career.
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