Royals win 4-3 over Rockies in an ugly extra-inning affair

It was truly a clash of the titans.

The Royals blew a lead with one out to go in the ninth, but came back to win in the eleventh on a walk-off single by Freddy Fermín to defeat the Rockies 4-3.

The Royals and Rockies entered this game with two of the worst offenses in baseball, and they played like it tonight. Neither team had a baserunner until the third inning, and they combined for just nine hits through the first eight innings. Royals starter Kris Bubic mowed down the first six hitters of the game, and worked around a pair of singles in the third, helped by a double play. He would toss seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and no walks while striking out six, lowering his ERA to 1.45.

Drew Waters carried the Royals offense single-handedly early on. He singled in the third for the first Royals hit of the day, only to be immediately erased by a Kyle Isbel double play. But in the sixth he finally put the Royals on the board with his first home run of the year, a 408-foot solo blast.

Waters came up in the eighth and laced a one-out triple. Isbel’s ground out scored him to make it 2-0 Royals. He finished 3-for-4, falling a double shy of the cycle.

The Royals seemed to be on their way to an easy 2-0 win when Carlos Estévez retired the first two hitters in the ninth. But he inexplicably lost his command and walked the next three hitters to load the bases. He unloaded them when catcher Jacob Stallings laced a slider down the left field line for a three-run double.

But the Rockies proved why they have one of the worst records in baseball by quickly coughing up the lead. Salvador Perez led off with a single, and Maikel Garcia doubled to score pinch-runner Freddy Fermín to tie the game. The Royals could have had a chance to go ahead, but Garcia was picked off second in a boneheaded baserunning gaffe.

Royals relievers continued to struggle to throw strikes with six walks over the final three innings of the game. John Schreiber walked two more hitters in the tenth, but a terrific pickoff throw by Freddy Fermín helped prevent the Rockies from scoring. Daniel Lynch IV issued another walk in the eleventh, but held Colorado scoreless.

In the bottom of the eleventh, with Mark Canha at second, the Rockies intentionally walked Bobby Witt Jr. A wild pitch allowed the runners to advance a base, so the Rockies intentionally walked Vinnie Pasquantino to load the bases. That set up Fermín’s heroics.

It’s the first walk off win for the Royals, who improve to 10-14. They can take the series tomorrow evening when Michael Lorenzen takes on Germán Márquez at 6:40 CT.