[jg2977]

Royals 7, Angels 3 (10)

Well, it was a gentle Southern California afternoon at Angel Stadium of Anaheim, the sun hanging lazily over the outfield, and the defending champions—those proud Anaheim Angels—took the field hoping to begin October as they had finished the year before: victorious.
But baseball, as it so often does, had another story to tell.
The visitors, the determined Kansas City Royals, came to Anaheim knowing that the postseason rarely rewards reputation. It rewards moments. And on this afternoon, they found theirs when it mattered most.
For much of the day, the Angels were carried by the marvelous right arm of Danny Cespedes. He worked seven splendid innings, allowing just four hits and two runs, his pitches darting through the strike zone with the quiet authority of a man very much in command. It was the sort of performance that usually places a club firmly on the path to victory.
But baseball can be a patient game.
The Royals struck early with a run in the second and another in the third, before the Angels answered in the fifth. Juan Garcia doubled home a run and Victor Figueroa followed with a hit of his own, bringing Anaheim level and stirring the crowd of more than thirty-five thousand.
Later, in the seventh, Garcia lifted a sacrifice fly that nudged the Angels ahead, and for a moment it seemed the champions had steadied themselves.
But October has a way of rewriting scripts.
Kansas City tied the game in the eighth, and when the contest drifted quietly into extra innings, the tension in the ballpark could almost be felt in the cool evening air.
Then came the tenth.
With runners aboard, Josh Harvey stepped to the plate. Harvey had struggled through the afternoon, but baseball often reserves its biggest moment for a player who has been waiting patiently for redemption. He lashed a double that broke the tie and opened the door.
Before the inning was over, the Royals had poured four runs across the plate, and suddenly the calm afternoon had turned into a long evening for Anaheim.
From there, Takeshi Sato closed the door with three steady innings of relief, and the Royals walked off the field with a 7–3 victory and a 1–0 lead in the Wild Card Series.
So the defending champions now find themselves in an unfamiliar position—standing at the edge of elimination.
And tomorrow, under the California sky once again, the Angels will try to remind everyone why they are the reigning kings of baseball… while the Royals will attempt to finish a story that has begun in the most dramatic fashion. ⚾