By MATT PIKE
Jose Altuve hit a game tying home run in the eighth inning before Joey Loperfido scored the go-ahead run in the ninth, as the Royals botched a potential inning-ending double play, and the Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 8-7 at Kauffman Stadium.
The Astros hit four home runs in a game delayed for 91 minutes in the eighth inning due to tornado warnings. Houston has been on a power streak as of late, hitting multiple homers in three straight games, 10 in all.
The Royals took the lead in the second inning when Jac Caglianone walked and went first-to-third on a grounder before scoring on an RBI single by Michael Massey. In the third inning, Vinnie Pasquantino delivered an RBI single, scoring Carter Jensen, and Bobby Witt Jr. scored on Christian Vázquez’s passed ball to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead at the end of the three.
Christian Walker hit his 18th home run in the fourth inning, a two-run shot scoring Yordan Alvarez to cut the Royals lead to one run. In the bottom half of the inning, Lane Thomas hit a solo home run into the left-field fountains to extend the Royals lead back to two runs at the end of the fourth.
In the fifth inning, Brice Matthews hit his sixth home run, driving in Jake Meyers to tie the game 4-4 before the Astros took their first lead of the game in the sixth inning on a solo home run by Meyers. In the bottom half of the sixth, the Royals stormed back again though, scoring three on a bases clearing double by Jensen, driving in Salvador Perez, Michael Massey, and Thomas to put Kansas City up 7-5.
In the eighth inning, Altuve hit his two run home run, scoring Isaac Paredes, to tie the game 7-7, moments before the weather delay. Bryan King struck out one in a hitless eighth, then in the ninth inning following the delay, with runners on the corners and one out the Royals missed a double play as second baseman Nick Loftin threw the ball wide of Caglianone at first base, in place of an injured Vinnie Pasquantino, allowing Loperdifo to score.
Pasquantino left the game in the fifth inning with a right hand hamate injury after a pop up. Manager Matt Quatraro said the expectation is Pasquantino will likely land on the injured list, although more will be known on Sunday after further testing.
Bryan Abreu pitched the ninth for his fifth save. Alex Lange fell to 0-4 in relief allowing a hit and a walk in 1.2 innings in the Royals' fourth straight loss. At the plate, Jensen was 2-for-5 with two doubles and three RBI's. Witt Jr. was 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Thomas was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run with one RBI.
Kansas City and Houston wrap up their series on Sunday before the Royals travel to Washington DC on Monday. Stephen Kolek (3-1, 3.14 ERA, 30K's) takes the mound for Kansas City against Spencer Arrighetti (7-1, 2.21 ERA, 53K's) for the Astros in the series finale. First pitch is at 1:10pm, pregame coverage begins at 12:30 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
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