Kansas City Royals stun Baltimore Orioles with 4-2 win in the finale – MLB Update
Kansas City Royals stunned Baltimore Orioles with a 4-2 win at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, Maryland on Sunday, May 27 in the decisive finale of their 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
Baltimore had the home conditions advantage working in their favour and after crushing the Royals 8-2 in the opener, they were expected to secure a series another sweep against an American League side.
Billy Butler provided Kansas City with an excellent start as he homered to left in the first inning to put his team 1-0 ahead. Nick Markakis helped the Orioles respond immediately as he doubled to deep left centre to level score at 1-1.
Mitch Maier and Jeff Francoeur combined to make a lovely play in the second to give the Royals a crucial 2-1 lead. Francoeur homered to left and Humberto Quintero had an RBI double to deep left in the sixth to dent Baltimore’s game intensity.
Relief pitcher Tim Collins won for the second time this season, pitching 1 1/3 perfect innings as a replacement of starter Luke Hochevar.
Kelvin Herrera, Jose Mijares, Jonathan Broxton, Aaron Crow and Collins gave up just one hit to the Orioles in just over 4 innings.
"I think you're starting to see us all kind of get in a groove, which I think we all thought we'd do this year sooner rather than later," said Francoeur, who averages .379 with five home runs.
"I think we knew it was time to kind of get going here," Francoeur further added.
"Frenchie is going through one of the better stretches I've seen anybody go through. I hope he can sustain it," Butler said.
In some ways, it was a huge win for the Royals who have improved considerably after making a poor start to the season. Ned Yost and company showed great fighting abilities, mental toughness and desire to win a series that was extremely crucial for them.
With their win against the Orioles on Sunday’s evening, the Royals improved their record to 19-27 and it will be exciting to see if they can hit the .500 win percentage mark before the All Star Break.
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