KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Salvador Perez stood on first base and clapped his hands together. He pounded his chest once. He looked toward the Royals' dugout inside Kauffman Stadium and shouted into the air.
A baseball comeback doesn't happen in one at-bat or one moment. The task requires pressure and time and, in this case, the 32-ounce hammer of Perez, the Royals' All-Star catcher. Yet here was the final blow.
In an 11-6 victory on Saturday afternoon, the Royals channeled their inner Andy Dufresne, finding redemption on a two-out, two-run single from Perez in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The deadlock-breaking single came against Twins reliever Tyler Duffey and delivered an 8-6 lead, the Royals' first of the day. In the first game of a doubleheader, they weathered a 5-1 deficit after 3{ innings and exploded for 10 runs over their final five times at the plate.
The Royals (40-39) bludgeoned the Minnesota bullpen into submission and moved into a tie with the Twins for second place in the American League Central. As a clubhouse of players prepared for the second game on Saturday night, they needed just one victory over the last two games of the series to secure a victory in the four-game set.
This is how it happened: Mike Moustakas opened the comeback with a solo homer in the fourth, his 22nd of the year. Moments later, Alcides Escobar sliced the lead to 5-4 with a two-run blast to left-center field.
The power was just beginning. In the bottom of the fifth, a slumping Brandon Moss would even the game at 5-5 with a mammoth 474-foot homer to center field. The baseball soared over the batter's eye, deep in center field. The distance represented the sixth longest home run in the majors this season, according to Statcast estimates, and the longest by a Royal in the last three seasons.
The Twins would strike back with a run in the sixth. But the Royals' onslaught was not done. A double from second baseman Ramon Torres tied the game at 6-6 in the sixth. Perez delivered his two-run single moments later. And Alex Gordon put the game out of reach with a three-run homer in the seventh, his fourth of the year.
How rare was the power? The Royals' received homers from their seventh, eighth, and ninth hitters in the lineup.
The afternoon, of course, did not start on a promising note. The Royals found themselves in a four-run hole after rookie starter Luke Farrell allowed five runs in 22/3 innings. The son of Red Sox manager John Farrell, Luke Farrell was activated before the game and assumed the role of "26th man," in accordance with rules for a doubleheader.
His father in attendance, his dream at his fingertips, Farrell was poised to craft a magic afternoon in his major-league debut. All that was missing was the performance.
Once Farrell exited, the Royals turned to left-hander Matt Strahm, who survived an inning with left knee inflammation. Scott Alexander would calm the waters with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, while Mike Minor would allow a run over two innings.
The Royals seized control. They did not let go.
