Colon plays major role in Royals' comeback

KANSAS CITY -- This is the Christian Colon that Royals manager Ned Yost and Colon's teammates completely trust.

With the game on the line and the potential tying run on third with none out in the eighth inning on Tuesday night, the Royals needed Colon to put the ball in play and get the run home. And that's exactly what Colon did, even though he's not an everyday player who rarely finds himself in those situations (other than in Wild Card games).

Colon's grounder to second plated Jarrod Dyson with the tying run and the Royals went on to a 6-5 win over the Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

"That's why we like Christian Colon," Yost said. "He's a solid player. He doesn't do anything flashy, but he's solid. And you just know when he's in the game, you're going to get good at-bats, smart at-bats. You're going to get solid defense."

Video: MIN@KC: Colon doubles in Orlando to cut the lead

Added third baseman Mike Moustakas, "That was huge, what he did in the eighth. Being able to get a guy in, in that situation is huge. He also had the double earlier. He's a great player and it's nice to see him have some success right now."

Colon said he was a bit surprised the Twins kept the infield back in a 5-4 game, especially when he got two strikes on him.

"I was just trying to put it in play, wanted to make sure I hit it to second or first," Colon said. "It's weird because I had two strikes on me and I thought they might come in. They didn't so I'm just trying to stay inside the ball and go up the middle."

Colon also singled and scored in the fifth and doubled in Paulo Orlando in the sixth.

"I feel good and I feel comfortable, and I'm getting my timing down," Colon said. "It feels good to contribute."