'We needed it': Royals snap skid with 5-run 9th?

ANAHEIM -- The Royals have spent the first month of the season searching for a game to build upon.

Saturday night at Angel Stadium provided it, not to mention an extremely entertaining one. Kansas City’s hitting outburst was punctuated with a five-run ninth in an 11-8 win over the Angels that stopped the losing skid at seven.

Said Hunter Dozier, plainly: “We needed it.”

Kansas City got it behind a comeback bookended by errant Los Angeles pitching. José Quijada drilled Nicky Lopez to open the inning and plunked MJ Melendez with the bases loaded to put the Royals in front.

“If you’re going to get hit by a pitch, it’s better to do so [then],” manager Matt Quatraro said.

Down 8-6 entering the ninth, the score almost became tied once Kyle Isbel followed the Lopez plate appearance with a drive to right-center. It was initially ruled a home run, but reversed upon review as it bounced off the top of the yellow padding on the wall and back into the field of play. Lopez was still allowed to score and Isbel was granted third base. He came home on Edward Olivares' single to center to tie the game.

“To have good at-bats throughout the night and really put up a big inning late when they have their closer in there, it was really encouraging,” Quatraro said.

After Melendez took one for the team, Dozier brought in two insurance runs with a single to right -- capping a 3-for-5, three-RBI performance.

“As a team, we had a really great night,” Dozier said. “We were able to come back several times. And that ninth inning was a lot of fun.”

The 5-6-7 hitters for the Royals combined to go 8-for-13 with six RBIs. In addition to Dozier, Matt Duffy also got three hits to raise his batting average to .394. Melendez had been trending in the other direction, entering the game slashing .149/.256/.254, but went 2-for-4.

Kansas City had scored five runs in its previous four games and was held to three hits Friday, but suddenly strung together three hits in the span of four pitches -- doubles by Salvador Perez and Duffy preceding a Melendez triple in the fourth.

In the sixth, the Royals put the ball in play enough to score three times. Two infield singles -- by Melendez and Dozier -- and a grounder off the bat of Lopez resulted in an error by Gio Urshela at first base to give Kansas City a 6-4 lead.

“That’s what Nicky does,” Quatraro said. “Make them make a tough play and it worked out to our advantage.”

It put Zack Greinke in position to gain his first road win in 19 starts, dating back to 2021. The 39-year-old, who had received poor run support so far this season, allowed four earned over five innings, including homers to Hunter Renfroe and Mike Trout -- the latter coming on a pitch that wasn’t working for Greinke.

“It was a bad curveball,” Greinke said. “That’s what I got beat on all day. For some reason, I kept throwing it.”

Carlos Hernández came in for the sixth and was also beat by Renfroe. His second solo blast appeared to be the only damage after Hernández got Zach Neto to pop out, but umpire Phil Cuzzi called a balk, and Neto stepped back in the box and singled in the tying run.

“I’m assuming that he didn’t stop,” Quatraro said. “But in the moment, it was definitely a frustrating time.”

Matt Thaiss' go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth had all the makings of a momentum-building game that would end with an empty result, but the Royals changed that narrative in the ninth with a comeback victory.

“They were resilient,” Quatraro said. “They persevere. In the dugout, during the losses and again tonight, these guys are in the game until the last out.”