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Major League Baseball
Kansas City 8, Chi. White Sox 7
When: 2:15 PM ET, Saturday, May 28, 2016
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Temperature: 74°
Umpires: Home - Will Little, 1B - Ted Barrett, 2B - Ryan Blakney, 3B - Angel Hernandez
Attendance: 31598

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Improbable is probably not a strong enough word for the Kansas City Royals' comeback victory Saturday. Next to impossible may be a better terminology.

Brett Eibner capped off an implausible Kansas City comeback with a walk-off single with two outs in the ninth as the Royals scored seven runs in the inning to defeat the Chicago White Sox 8-7 on Saturday.

The Royals sent 10 men to the plate and scored four runs with two outs, handing the White Sox their fifth straight loss.

It was the largest ninth inning victory for the Royals in their history. It was the White Sox biggest ninth inning collapse in franchise history.

"Wow, I don't even know where to start," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "Just the number of quality at-bats we put together in the ninth inning. Once we got the tying run to the plate, I'm like OK, this is good, now we've got a shot. The score was 7-1? Going into it we're down six. Now we've got the tying run up there. Now we've got a shot. We just kept pecking away, but that's the mentality of our team. They don't quit."

An injury to Royals catcher Salvador Perez, however, put a damper on the victory. Perez had to be helped from the field in the ninth after colliding with third baseman Cheslor Cuthbert while catching an Adam Eaton foul fly. The early diagnosis was a bruised left thigh, but Perez was taken for a MRI with the results to be released Sunday.

Drew Butera, who replaced Perez, and Eric Hosmer had two-out RBI doubles in the ninth. Whit Merrifield contributed a two-run single and Alcides Escobar walked with the bases loaded. Lorenzo Cain pushed a run home with a groundout.

Paulo Orlando and Jarrod Dyson were intentionally walked to bring up Eibner, who was playing in his second major league game. Eibner and Tommy Kahnle (0-1) had a 10-pitch encounter before Eibner singled to right.

Kahnle faced four batters and retired none.

"We did what we always say, keep the line moving, got a couple of big hits and came out with a huge win," Hosmer said. "It's against Chicago, a team leading the division, we won the series off of it. It just gives the team a lot of energy, a lot of momentum heading into the next day."

The Royals have had big rallies to beat Oakland in the 2014 wildcard game and Houston in Game 4 of the 2015 AL Division Series.

"This is definitely one the crazier regular season games," Hosmer said. "Playoff games, you can't really compare to that, the stage you're on."

Chien-Ming Wang (3-0) pitched two scoreless innings to claim the victory.

Tyler Saladino hit a three-run homer and Avisail Garcia blasted a two-run homer as the White Sox jumped out a 7-1 lead.

"There is no shot clock, there is no time clock, if you can't close it out that's what happens," Ventura said. "Today we couldn't close it out."

Saladino parked an 0-2 Yordano Ventura pitch over the left-field fence, landing in the Royals' bullpen, with two runners on in a four-run second. Garcia singled home Brett Lawrie with the first run of the inning.

Garcia pounded a 2-1 Ventura offering out to left in the fourth with Alex Avila aboard for his fifth home run of the season.

Ventura labored through seven innings, permitting seven runs (one unearned) and nine hits. He has struggled in six straight starts, allowing 27 runs (26 earned) in 32 2/3 innings and 37 hits, including seven home runs, while walking 19.

White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon gave up one run, six hits and two walks while striking out three in five innings. Rodon threw 105 pitches before being replaced by Zach Putnam, who retired all seven batters he faced, striking out two in 2 1/3 innings.

"We've seen crazy things in baseball," White Sox third baseman Todd Frazier said. "This is one of them. We're going to see a lot more like that before we're done with our career. You've got to understand, the only thing you can do as hitters and pitchers is you want to get back out there as soon as possible and be aggressive, and understand that when this opportunity comes along, you've got to bear down and figure out something, take a deep breath, walk around the mound, walk around the batter's box. You know, figure some stuff out. That's basically it."

Merrifield doubled to lead off the Royals' third and scored on Hosmer's single. Hosmer has six RBIs in the first two games of the series.

Austin Jackson went 3-for-4 and scored the other White Sox run after second baseman Omar Infante's throwing error in the fifth on a Melky Cabrera grounder.

NOTES: Royals RHP Chris Young was reinstated from the 15-day disabled list after being out with a right forearm strain. Young comes back as a reliever after beginning the season as a starter. LHP Brian Flynn was optioned to Triple-A Omaha to make roster room for Young. ... Royals DH Kendrys Morales remains sidelined with a swollen right middle finger knuckle. Manager Ned Yost said he is "probably looking" at a Monday return for Morales. ... INF Tyler Saladino made his 17th start at shortstop for the White Sox, while Jimmy Rollins, 37, was rested. "Day games after night, I think it becomes a little bit tougher on Jimmy to be able to do that," manager Robin Ventura said. ... White Sox LF Melky Cabrera, who hit a grand slam Friday, batted cleanup for the seventh time. ... White Sox LHP Chris Sale and Royals RHP Edinson Volquez are the pitching probables for the series finale Sunday. Sale suffered his first loss of the season in his previous start, allowing six runs in 3 1/3 innings against Cleveland.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Chi. White Sox   Kansas City
Carlos Rodon Player Yordano Ventura
No Decision W/L No Decision
5.0 IP 7.0
3 Strikeouts 4
6 Hits 9
1.80 ERA 7.71
Hitting
Chi. White Sox   Kansas City
Austin Jackson Player Lorenzo Cain
3 Hits 2
0 RBI 1
0 HR 0
4 TB 3
.600 Avg .400
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Chi. White Sox 11 2 19 .282 14 6 6 0 0 0
Kansas City 12 0 17 .316 17 7 8 6 2 2