Hometown hero Jensen caps Royals' crazy comeback with 1st career walk-off

KANSAS CITY -- Hometown kid, meet walk-off hero.

Royals rookie Carter Jensen will never say he’s gotten used to playing for his favorite team at the ballpark located about 30 minutes from where he grew up in Kansas City, because he’s never going to take any of this for granted. But there are fewer “pinch-me” moments now that he’s gotten into the rhythm of a Major League season.

Until Friday night, of course. That one had “pinch-me” written all over it.

Jensen was the hero in the Royals’ 7-6 walk-off win in 10 innings over the Padres at Kauffman Stadium, kicking off the post-All Star break schedule with a bang when his opposite-field single snuck through the gap to score the winning two runs in a wild, back-and-forth affair.

It was Jensen’s first career walk-off hit, and it helped the Royals snap a five-game losing streak that followed them into the break. All it took for them to do so was take the lead in the eighth, blow the game in the ninth, allow three runs in the top of the 10th and score four in the bottom of the frame.

“It’s surreal,” Jensen said on the field right after the game, motioning to the large crowd still gathered. “I used to be sitting up there in the stands. To be a part of this and follow in the footsteps of guys who played before, it means a lot.”

In the clubhouse later on, Jensen explained his approach at the plate for the left-on-left matchup against reliever Kyle Hart. The Royals had already scored two on Michael Massey’s RBI single and Isaac Collins' RBI groundout to cut their deficit to one in the bottom of the 10th. Jensen took strike one against Hart, and then poked the next sinker into left field.

“Honestly, he attacked me a little bit different than I thought [he would],” Jensen said. “But at the end of the day, get a strike on you and everything like that, you just battle. Less than two outs, runners on second and third, just get one in. I was able to get two in. It was fun.”

The hit was slow enough that Padres left fielder Jase Bowen had to come charging in, and that allowed Nick Loftin to score from second for the winning run. Loftin never stopped running after crossing home plate, sprinting back up the first-base line to celebrate with the mob of Royals around Jensen.

“Once it went through, I was just booking it,” Loftin said.

At 39-59, the Royals have endured a disappointing 2026 season so far, magnified even more so by the expectations they had for themselves entering the season. As the unofficial second half begins, the focus externally has shifted to the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline and the evaluation process across the final 64 games.

Inside the clubhouse, though, the Royals have not strayed from trying to win as many plays, at-bats and games as possible. They don’t want to roll over, no matter how many losses they might have.

Nothing encapsulated that mindset more than the back end of Friday’s game, with the Royals taking repeated punches and still finding a way to get back up. Massey gave the Royals the lead with a two-out, two-strike RBI single in the eighth, only for the Padres to counter with their own two-out hit in the ninth inning when Ty France homered off Royals closer Alex Lange.

Kansas City loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth against Padres closer Mason Miller -- including an intentional walk to Bobby Witt Jr. -- only for Miller to strike out the next three batters in Josh Rojas, Lane Thomas and Vinnie Pasquantino.

In extra innings, manager Matt Quatraro turned to Lucas Erceg to face the bottom of the Padres’ order. It didn’t go well. Suddenly, the Royals were down not just one run, but three.

“That’s a big hill to climb there,” Quatraro said.

The Royals climbed it by keeping the line moving, with hits from Salvador Perez and Massey, along with a bunt base hit from Loftin.

“That’s kind of who we are and need to be,” Loftin said. “How can we move the line? Give ourselves a chance?”

Perhaps that’s all the Royals need to do in this second half -- give themselves a chance. A resilient and scrappy offense allowed them to do so Friday despite the mistakes made earlier in the game.

“That’s what you’re supposed to do: Can’t quit,” Pasquantino said. “Never out of it. A lot of people were leaving. A lot of boos from the first-base dugout suite. Could hear them all night. But they were cheering at the end of the day, so that’s all that matters. It was a good night. Just got to keep playing like that.”