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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- After Kansas City won its second game in
a row with a last at-bat home run Tuesday night, an envious Rey
Sanchez remarked to a teammate, "I'll probably go through my
career without winning a game with a home run."
The way things are going for the Royals, he should have known
better.
|  | | Rey Sanchez's Royals teammates celebrate while waiting for him to arrive at home plate and score the winning run. |
With two on in the ninth inning Wednesday night, Sanchez bounced
a shot off the top of the left field bullpen for a three-run homer,
lifting the Royals past Baltimore 7-6 and producing the thrill he
thought he'd never experience.
"I was going for a double," said Sanchez, who now has 12 home
runs in his eight-year career. "We got lucky."
On Monday, Johnny Damon hit a ninth-inning home run for a 6-5
win over Minnesota. In the series opener Tuesday, Brian Johnson's
12th-inning homer produced a 7-5 win for the Royals, who at 7-3 are
off to their best start since 1978.
"They saw me do it and they figured, 'If Johnny can do it, we
all can,"' said Damon.
Baltimore, which led 6-0 in the seventh, was still ahead 6-4 in
the ninth when Mike Trombley (0-1) walked Gregg Zaun leading off
and Mark Quinn followed with a double that sailed over the head of
center fielder Brady Anderson.
Next up was Sanchez.
"You combine breaks and talent and aggressiveness and you get
what the Royals have got going for them right now," said Baltimore
manager Mike Hargrove. "The ball Quinn hit, we had our outfield
playing deep for no doubles. But he just hit it hard and got it
over Brady's head and set that inning up."
Royals manager Tony Muser said he cannot remember a team winning
three days in a row with last at-bat homers.
"When things are going good, it's a different guy every
night," said Muser. "Quinn comes up and gets a big hit. Zaun had
a really quality at-bat working for the walk. Rey hadn't been doing
a lot offensively, then he hits a fastball.
"Sometimes (as a manager) you just want to get out of the
way."
Cal Ripken singled in a run to move within four hits of 3,000,
and Mike Bordick had three RBI for Baltimore.
Jose Santiago (2-0) won for the second straight night, pitching
two perfect innings.
Ripken, who began the season with 2,991 hits, flared a single
into right field in the seventh, driving in B.J. Surhoff for his
1,576th career RBI, moving him past Jake Beckley for 29th on the
career list.
Royals starter Mac Suzuki allowed five runs -- only two earned -- and five hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Baltimore scored three unearned runs in the fourth for a 3-0
lead after first baseman Mike Sweeney dropped Harold Baines'
grounder for an error.
Ripken walked, Charles Johnson hit a two-run double with two
outs and Bordick followed with an RBI single.
Baltimore made it 5-0 in the sixth when Suzuki hit Will Clark
with a pitch, Johnson doubled and Bordick followed with a two-run
double off Jerry Spradlin. Ripken's hit made it 6-0.
Pat Rapp took a three-hitter into the seventh, when Jermaine Dye
hit a leadoff homer, reliever Buddy Groom walked in a run, and
Sanchez and Damon hit sacrifice flies.
Rapp allowed three runs and five hits in six-plus innings.
Game notes
Sanchez made a fine leaping catch of Ripken's liner to
shortstop in his first at-bat. ... Rapp was 12-13 in a career-high
32 starts for the Royals in 1998. ... The game started with three
Kansas City players holding down the top three spots in total bases
among AL players, Sweeney, Joe Randa and Dye. ... After hitting a
two-run double in the sixth, Bordick was thrown out trying to steal
third.
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ALSO SEE
Baseball Scoreboard
Baltimore Clubhouse
Kansas City Clubhouse
RECAPS
NY Yankees 8
Texas 6
Cleveland 5
Oakland 0
Boston 7
Minnesota 3
Seattle 4
Detroit 0
Chi. White Sox 7
Tampa Bay 1
Kansas City 7
Baltimore 6
Toronto 6
Anaheim 2
Chicago Cubs 11
Atlanta 4
Colorado 7
Cincinnati 5
Florida 11
Milwaukee 4
Philadelphia 8
NY Mets 5
Pittsburgh 6
Montreal 4
Houston 7
St. Louis 5
San Diego 4
Arizona 2
Los Angeles 3
San Francisco 2
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