The Royals have under-performed, if not fallen flat on their faces, when they need a late rally. How bad has it been? Coming into Wednesday’s game with the White Sox, Kansas City had dropped 102 straight games when they trailed after eight innings. Even more amazing than that stat is that all 102 of those losses have happened since August 31, 2004. On Wednesday, that streak came to an end with a dramatic 10-9 win over Chicago.
Down 9-7 in the ninth, the Royals began a one-out three run rally started by a single from Matt Stairs off former Cardinals’ reliever Dustin Hermanson. Emil Brown was up next and he moved Stairs over to second base with a single. Mark Teahen cut the White Sox’s lead to 9-8 with an RBI single to score pinch-runner Chip Ambres. Then, Angel Berroa earned hero status for the night with a double that scored Brown, then Teahen came around on former Royals outfielder Jermaine Dye’s fielding error to win the game.
Teahen and Mike Sweeney led the way with two RBI’s apiece, while Berroa went 3-for-5 with a run to go with his game-winning RBI. The victory ended a three-game losing streak.
Chris Demaria made his major league debut by working around a walk in the ninth inning to pick up the win.