KANSAS CITY -- The Royals on Sunday faced a last-minute game time change, an early six-run deficit and an ill-timed rain delay. They were down to their last out in the bottom of the ninth, down by two runs. They were down to their last out in the bottom of the 10th, down by a run.
But two swings washed away all of that, first on Jac Caglianone’s towering two-run home run in the ninth and then Lane Thomas’ walk-off three-run home run in the 10th to give the Royals a can-you-believe-it 11-9 walk-off win over the Angels at Kauffman Stadium, completing the weekend sweep.
It was a chaotic beginning of the day at Kauffman Stadium, beginning with Sunday night’s game being moved up by three hours because of inclement weather in the area. The decision was made mid-morning, leading to somewhat of a scramble to get everyone in the building ready with pregame work.
The game followed the chaotic trend. Starter Seth Lugo allowed seven runs on a career-high 14 hits, putting the Royals in an early six-run deficit in the first two innings. But he settled down to get through 6 1/3 innings, and the offense got to work building a comeback.
The Royals scored a run in the fifth and two in the sixth. They put two more on board in the seventh and had two runners on with no outs and Bobby Witt Jr. at the plate, only to see the tarp pulled onto the field at the most inopportune moment, if only because they had been playing through steady rain for a while at that point.
After a 1-hour, 29-minute delay, the game was back on, but the Royals' bats went silent until the bottom of the ninth.
With two outs, Vinnie Pasquantino tripled and scored on Salvador Perez’s single up the middle. Caglianone had pinch-hit an inning earlier to face right-hander Ryan Zeferjahn but struck out on four pitches. When he came up again in the ninth, the Angels took out lefty Brent Suter and brought in lefty Drew Pomeranz.
Caglianone took an elevated fastball for a ball and another fastball down for a strike. Pomeranz threw one up and in – and Caglianone yanked it out to the corner seats in right field, staying just fair at a Statcast-projected 409 feet.
Again down to their last out in the 10th, Thomas did the same thing against another lefty, pulling a sinker from Joey Lucchesi 407 feet to left-center field to end it once and for all.