Revisit Royals' 2014 Wild Card walk-off

KANSAS CITY -- It was the game that turned a franchise around.

The Royals’ pulsating 9-8 walk-off triumph in 12 innings over the A’s in the 2014 Wild Card Game was not only perhaps the most thrilling game in club history, but it also may have been the most important.

And that game recently streamed live for all Royals fans to enjoy on Facebook (MLB/Las Mayores), Twitter (MLB/Las Mayores) and YouTube (MLB).

“That game, that victory provided the confidence our team and organization needed,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We knew we were a good team. I knew it. But we really needed a game like that to get over the hump.

“When we won that game, those guys figured out how to win. They began to believe they not only could win, but that they should win every time they stepped on the field. I could see it in their eyes, and you could sense it in the dugout.”

The victory, as improbable as it was having to come back from a 7-3 deficit, launched a memorable 2014 ride through the postseason. The Royals won their first eight playoff games -- no other team in MLB history had done that.

Though the Royals fell short in the World Series, losing to the Giants in seven games, the organization had flipped a switch. Kansas City rolled to an American League-best 95-67 record in 2015, and then won its first World Series title in 30 years.

And it all started on the night of Sept. 30, 2014, in Kansas City.

The Royals were clinging to a 3-2 lead in the sixth when Yost opted to bring in reliever Yordano Ventura, the budding star who died tragically in an automobile accident in 2017. Ventura, who had only come out of the bullpen once before in his MLB career, gave up a three-run homer to Brandon Moss -- his second shot of the night (a two-run homer in the first off starter James Shields).

The A’s tacked on two more runs and seemingly held an insurmountable 7-3 lead.

But the Royals chipped away, using their legs. They tied a postseason record with seven stolen bases on the night.

Nori Aoki tied the score at 7 with a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

The A’s took an 8-7 lead in the 12th, but rookie Christian Colón tied it again in the bottom of the inning on a high-chopping infield single to score Eric Hosmer, who had tripled. Colón promptly stole second, setting the stage for one of the most memorable moments in team history.

On a 2-2 count, A’s right-hander Jason Hammel tried to get Salvador Perez to chase a slider a foot out of the zone. Perez did, but he lined a game-winning single down the left-field line.

Hammel, who later became a Royal, said, “I didn’t think he could have hit that pitch with a canoe paddle.”

Moss also later became a Royal and recalled, “Both teams went out, put some pressure on the other team, played good baseball. They ended up winning. I wish it was us that had won.”

Added Yost: “It was the most incredible game I’ve ever been a part of.”