Yuki Matsui blew a two-run save opportunity in the 9th inning to allow the Royals to walk off in stunning fashion

The Kansas City Royals hosted the San Diego Padres for the finale of a 3-game series. SD won the first two games and had a chance at a sweep on Sunday afternoon. Instead, the Royals stormed back from down two runs in the 9th to win the finale.

The Padres fall to (32-30) on the year as the Royals improve to (36-25). Michael King pitched an excellent game and deserved a win for his efforts.

The Royals scored the first run of the game thanks to a Vinnie Pasquantino Sac-fly to left, scoring Maikel Garcia. Remember when he and Michael King happened to honeymoon together during the offseason? Well, after King won round 1, Vinnie P got the better of him in the second AB.

San Diego evened the score thanks to a double from Jose Azocar leading to an RBI single from Luis Arraez. Arraez was gunned down at second trying to stretch a double and walked back to the dugout banged up. He remained in the game for another inning but was then removed from the contest and replaced by Tyler Wade.

“(Arraez) hurt his shoulder going into second base and a little bit of his neck,” manager Mike Shildt said postgame. “Nothing looks overly serious. Things are as positive as they can be.”

Wade immediately contributed when he entered the game. He saved what could have been a big inning for the Royals by making a diving catch to take away a hit from former Padre Adam Frazier. Wade then singled to start the top of the 8th in his first AB as the new leadoff hitter. He wasn’t finished there. After a wild throw on the pickoff attempt from Angel Zerpa, Wade used his speed to reach third base to set up a go-ahead run with zero outs.

His efforts set up another huge 8th inning for the Friars. Fernando Tatis Jr. lined a single to center field to give the Padres the first lead of the game. Profar then reached on an infield single followed by an RBI single from Manny Machado. The Padres had something brewing with zero outs in the inning but failed to score another insurance run.

Those runs certainly would have helped. Matsui came in for the close and allowed three straight base runners to blow the save. KC walked it off and salvaged the final game of the series.

The Padres will now take on the Angels in Anaheim tomorrow, starting a 3-game series before returning home.

Michael King

King followed up his solid performance against the Miami Marlins with a quality start, completing seven innings of one-run ball. The right-hander allowed just four hits and walked two. King struck out four hitters and lowered his ERA to 3.86.

After he allowed the first run of the game, he followed it up by catching Witt Jr. in a rundown for an out, then K’d up Salvador Perez to end the inning. He escaped another jam in the 5th, then had a 1-2-3 inning in the 6th.

Cole Ragans

Ragans pitched very well against the Friars, earning a quality start. He allowed five hits and the one run in 6.0 innings. The southpaw struck out six hitters and walked two. Ragans lowered his ERA to 3.21 on the season and allowed two or fewer runs in eight of his last ten starts.

Chris Spiering

Chris is a graduate of the University of San Diego. He is the former Sports Editor for the USDVista newspaper. Chris has covered the San Diego Loyal, and now covers San Diego State Men’s Basketball. He also contributes regularly about the Padres. Chris is an athlete and is a huge fan of San Diego sports.