He thought he walked -- but he settled for a HR

DETROIT -- Jeimer Candelario knew his home-run drought was going to end eventually. He wasn’t expecting it to end after what he thought was ball four Saturday.

Candelario was so sure he had drawn a third-inning walk from Royals starter Homer Bailey that he tossed his bat toward the dugout and took a couple steps toward first base. Plate umpire Quinn Wolcott brought him back, ruling that Bailey’s 3-0 pitch had caught the outside corner.

With his at-bat extended, Candelario wasn’t going to take a chance taking another pitch. He went swinging at Bailey’s fastball over the plate and hit a drive deep to the right-field seats for his first home run of the year. The ball traveled 394 feet with an exit velocity of 96 mph, according to Statcast.

Candelario hadn’t homered since last Sept. 15, when he hit one out off then-Indians pitcher Josh Tomlin. He had 181 plate appearances between home runs, by far the longest streak of his young Major League career.

Compared to the would-be walk, Candelario’s reaction to the homer was muted. He put his head down and took his trip around the bases, not saying anything to Wolcott as he crossed the plate.