Isbel follows pair of defensive gems with first career walk-off for Royals

KANSAS CITY – Down but hardly out, the Royals put together an eighth-inning game-tying rally on Friday night and kept it going in the ninth with Kyle Isbel’s walk-off single to start the weekend series off strong.

That was enough for a 4-3 series-opening win over the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium, getting the Royals back in the win column after back-to-back losses.

Center fielder Kyle Isbel had just made two great catches out in the grass, one diving in left-center field and one ranging back toward the center-field wall to steal hits and get the Royals out of the top of the eighth unscathed. Nearly the entire fielding team, including reliever John Schreiber, waited for Isbel at the entrance of the Royals’ dugout to give him well-earned high fives.

So it was only right that Isbel came through at the plate, too. Twice.

After Michael Massey’s leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth, Isbel lined a ball into right field, scoring Massey to cut the deficit to 3-2 – and ending up on third because of Wenceel Pérez's error in the outfield. Isbel came home one pitch later when Maikel Garcia lined it into center field for the game-tying hit.

Isbel came up again in the ninth after Nick Loftin’s two-out double and lined an opposite-field single through the left-field gap.

The offense’s comeback rewarded an impressive pitching performance from the bullpen after starter Kris Bubic was tagged for three runs in 5 2/3 innings. The grittiest inning, though, goes to Lucas Erceg, who was handed the ninth after the Royals tied it. And it sure wasn’t an easy inning: After a leadoff double, Erceg and catcher Elias Díaz collided on a popout – one that Díaz still somehow secured for the out despite the collision.

It looked like Erceg’s right knee hit Díaz’s left knee, with both lying on the ground for a minute before getting up, staying in the game and navigating through a tense ninth to preserve the tie and set up the walk-off.