By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com | 9/30/2014 10:00 PM ET
KANSAS CITY -- A jammed-in crowd shook Kauffman Stadium with blue thunder, releasing its pent-up passion after 28 dry years, trying to push the Royals to another great moment in their return to postseason play. It didn't happen.
Not that the Royals didn't give the 40,502 fans jolts of joy, taking an early lead before Oakland's five-run outburst in the sixth inning pointed the Athletics to a 7-6 victory in the American League Wild Card Game on Tuesday night. Brandon Moss was the main culprit, cracking two home runs for five RBIs. Jon Lester pitched the victory.
The A's, not Kansas City's first playoff team since 1985, advance to the American League Division Series against the Los Angeles Angels beginning on Thursday at Anaheim. The Royals' season is over.
The full house of long-deprived KC fans, clad in blue, gave the Royals a rousing welcome as the pregame introductions were made. "Let's go, Royals!" they chanted, waving blue towels.
James Shields' first pitch to the A's Coco Crisp was a strike, prompting a roar which diminished in a bit when Crisp lined a single to left field. Two outs later, though, the throng was in full-throated thunder -- until Moss sent the ball soaring high and far to right field.
Over the bullpen it flew, a two-run homer launched into the seats on Shields' 0-1 changeup. Moss had hit 25 homers during the regular season.
Then it was the Royals' turn against Lester, the formidable left-hander who was 9-3 against them in his career. But Alcides Escobar immediately singled, igniting fresh excitement, before Lester got two outs.
Nori Aoki, on base after forcing Escobar, stole second and Eric Hosmer walked. Billy Butler ripped a single to left field, scoring Aoki.
There were probably relatively few in this boisterous crowd that witnessed the last run scored by Kansas City in the postseason. That was when George Brett raced in on a wild pitch in the fifth inning of the 1985 World Series Game 7. Butler's RBI was the first since Frank White's single that scored Willie Wilson in that same inning.
But now things got confusing. With Alex Gordon at bat, Butler made a false start toward second, stopped, looked at coach Rusty Kuntz and then lumbered away. Lester threw to the pulled-over shortstop and while Butler was caught in a rundown, Hosmer broke for home but was thrown out by first baseman Stephen Vogt. Catcher Geovany Soto applied the tag easily and the inning was over.
During an in-game TV interview, Royals manager Ned Yost said Butler broke too soon, that he was supposed to wait until Lester delivered to the plate. The hope, apparently, was to give Hosmer time to score.
One other consequence was that Soto injured his left thumb on the play and had to leave the game, replaced by Derek Norris.
The noise meter rose to the deafening level in the third inning as the Royals went ahead, 3-2. Mike Moustakas singled to left, was bunted to second and took third on Aoki's groundout. Lorenzo Cain ripped an RBI double to left and he scored as Hosmer blooped a single over shortstop.
The "big game" matchup between Lester and Shields ended in the A's sixth after Sam Fuld's leadoff single and Josh Donaldson's walk. Yordano Ventura, usually a starter, was summoned from the bullpen to relieve Shields.
Ventura got behind Moss 2-0 and then delivered a 98-mph fastball that the left-handed hitter sent zooming over the center-field fence an estimated 418 feet away. It was a three-run homer that propelled the A's into a 5-3 lead.
Moss had just two home runs in his last 154 at-bats during the regular season, but he had two blasts in his first three at-bats in this game.
After Josh Reddick's single, a wild pitch and a flyout that put Reddick at third, Yost pulled Ventura for Kelvin Herrera, normally his seventh-inning specialist. The manager got a chorus of boos from the crowd as he left the field.
Herrera got Vogt to foul out but Norris singled up the middle and Reddick's run made it 6-3. Crisp, the ninth batter in the inning, also singled to center for another run.
Shields, in his five-plus innings, threw 88 pitches -- his lowest total in his two seasons with the Royals. He gave up four runs, five hits and two walks.
Lester retired 12 straight batters until Omar Infante bunted safely in the seventh. But Lester quickly ended the inning.
Neither the crowd nor the Royals would go quietly. Escobar opened the eighth by reaching base on infield single and then stole second, bringing the roaring fans to their feet. Escobar moved to third as Aoki bounced out, then scored on Cain's single.
Hosmer's grounder down the line went off Vogt's glove but was foul. Cain stole second, Hosmer walked and A's manager Bob Melvin removed Lester in favor of right-hander Luke Gregerson. Butler drilled a single to right to score Cain and the Royals were within two runs.
Pinch-runner Terrance Gore stole second on the next pitch. And Gregerson's next pitch went wild, allowing Hosmer to score and putting Gore at third with one out. The place went wild. Gordon walked and stole second as Salvador Perez struck out.
With the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position, Infante struck out to end the inning.
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Original Source: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2014_09_30_oakmlb_kcamlb_1&mode=gameday&c_id=mlb#gid=2014_09_30_oakmlb_kcamlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=kc