A Triple-A game, missed flight, then a KC game-winner for Josh Rojas

MINNEAPOLIS – Josh Rojas’ day began with an afternoon game in Columbus, Ohio, batting leadoff and playing third base with Triple-A Omaha.

It ended as the big league hero in Minneapolis, knocking in the game-winning runs of the Royals’ 8-6 win over the Twins at Target Field on Thursday night.

“It was an adventurous day, for sure,” Rojas said. “But, I mean, I wouldn’t change it.”

Omaha’s game against the Columbus Clippers (Guardians) began at 11:05 p.m CT on Thursday, and Rojas logged three at-bats, including a double, before he was pulled in the fifth inning. The Royals had an open roster spot with pitcher Stephen Kolek being placed on family medical emergency leave, and Rojas’ versatility offers them protection around the infield, especially with third baseman Maikel Garcia still nursing a hamstring strain. Rojas had been with the team on the taxi squad earlier this week in Cincinnati in case Garcia needed to go on the injured list, but he was back in Triple-A on Tuesday.

On Thursday afternoon, Rojas was officially added to the roster.

The challenge for Rojas was to see how quickly he could make the 6:40 p.m. CT game in Minneapolis. The Royals first put Rojas on a flight out of Columbus in the middle of the afternoon, but it was such a quick turnaround from when he was pulled from the game to when that flight took off that he didn’t make it.

The flight he did make left at 8 p.m. CT, which meant Rojas was waiting at the airport for about four hours. He took a nap on the flight. By the time he was landing, he was starting to follow along with the game. He texted a buddy that he might actually get in somehow.

“I can’t imagine having a travel day like that,” said Michael Massey, who homered in the fourth inning. “And then having to come in and face a leverage reliever.”

“I think I would have been a little more stressed [getting here] if I hadn’t played a game yet today,” Rojas added. “But I’d already done all my activation. I played a game. I did sit at the airport for a while, but I still felt pretty good. It didn’t feel like I had just woken up out of bed. Obviously, the adrenaline of being in the big leagues, I felt really good just stepping out there.”

No matter what the Royals did offensively throughout Thursday’s game, the Twins seemed to always have an answer. They tagged starter Seth Lugo with five runs in five innings, including three home runs, and scored a run in each of the first six innings.

What the Twins didn’t have an answer for was Rojas, who didn’t arrive at Target Field until after the 1-hour, 7-minute rain delay that happened in the middle of the sixth inning. The whole thing is kind of a blur, but Rojas thinks he arrived at Target Field – in an Uber directly from the airport – around 9:45 p.m. CT.

“I literally got here, went straight to the cage, and then I was like, ‘Oh, I should probably tell our manager I’m here,’” Rojas said.

Manager Matt Quatraro noted the arrival and then got to work mapping out how to use Rojas. With the game tied in the top of the ninth, Quatraro emptied his bench. Salvador Perez singled to lead off the inning and was replaced by pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert. Lane Thomas pinch-hit for Jac Caglianone against lefty reliever Taylor Rogers and singled. Isaac Collins sacrifice bunted to move up the runners.

The Royals turned to Garcia, who hasn’t played since Saturday, in place of Massey, but the Twins countered with right-hander Justin Lawrence. Garcia worked a walk to load the bases.

“Maikel, that’s a tough matchup, but we’re going to bet on him,” Quatraro said. “Massey left-on-left against Rogers is tough. Lawrence against Maikel is tough, too, but he was patient, loaded them up.”

That brought up Rojas as a pinch-hitter for Nick Loftin, and he worked a 3-1 count before lining a sinker up the middle that ultimately bounced off the mound and into the outfield to bring in both runners.

Less than an hour after arriving, Rojas had come through in the biggest moment possible in his first at-bat as a Royal.

Not a bad day.

“The staff did a really good job here,” Rojas said. “I was very prepared for the at-bat. They came to me the half-inning before and told me the situation, who I would face. If they didn’t come into the game, I’d be running. So I went and looked at video, put together a little scouting report for myself, came up with a plan, and I felt pretty comfortable up there.”