Stars und Sternchen! » popped out of the dugout one last time

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Rain had started to fall at Kauffman Stadium as the echoing roars finally faded into the night. Eric Hosmer popped out of the dugout one last time, looked to the sky and let it soak in. It had been 29 years since the Royals played a post-season game a€” three decades spent mostly as a laughingstock. But on Tuesday night, already drenched in victory champagne, the young first baseman felt as if the whole world had watched their coming-out party. This team showed a lot of character tonight, Hosmer said. We werent going to quit. Salvador Perez singled home the winning run with two outs in the 12th inning, capping two late comebacks that gave Kansas City a thrilling 9-8 victory over the Oakland Athletics in the American League wild-card game. Quite a start to October baseball a€” even if this one appeared to be over with plenty of time to spare in September. But in a back-and-forth epic that lasted 4 hours, 45 minutes, the As lost their seventh straight winner-take-all playoff game since 2000. It was the final collapse in a season that looked so promising this summer. This will go down as the craziest game Ive ever played, said Hosmer, who sparked the final Royals rally with a one-out triple. This team showed a lot of character. No one believed in us before the game. No one believed in us before the season. Making their first post-season appearance since winning the 1985 World Series, the Royals are sticking around. Theyll open their best-of-five Division Series on the road Thursday night against the AL West champion Los Angeles Angels. After falling behind by four runs, the Royals raced back with their speed on the bases a€” they led the majors with 153 steals this season. Kansas City swiped seven in this one to tie a post-season record previously shared by the 1907 Chicago Cubs and 1975 Cincinnati Reds, according to STATS. The biggest one came in the 12th. Hosmer scored the tying run on a high chopper to third by rookie Christian Colon, who reached safely on the infield single and then stole second with two outs. Perez, who was 0 for 5 after squandering two late chances to drive in key runs, reached out and pulled a hard one-hopper past diving third baseman Josh Donaldson. Colon scored easily, and the Royals rushed out of the dugout for a mad celebration. Sitting upstairs in a suite, Royals Hall of Famer George Brett put his hands on his head in near disbelief at the frenzied and jubilant scene that was unfolding below. It was unbelievable, Perez said. The As raced out to a 7-3 lead by the sixth inning, but the Royals countered with three runs in the eighth. Nori Aokis sacrifice fly off Sean Doolittle in the ninth forced extra innings. Kansas City squandered chances in the next couple of innings, as midnight came and went on the East Coast and the tension continued to build. Rookie left-hander Brandon Finnegan, just drafted in June, pitched two scoreless innings but walked Josh Reddick to start in the 12th. Pinch-hitter Alberto Callaspo delivered an RBI single off Jason Frasor to put the As ahead 8-7, but Hosmer hit a drive high off the left-centre wall against Dan Otero for a leadoff triple in the bottom half, and Colon drove him in with a bouncer that barely travelled 50 feet. That set the stage for Perez, who lined a pitch from Jason Hammel down the third-base line. They finally got ahead there in the 30th inning or whatever it was, said Brandon Moss, who drove in five runs with two homers for Oakland. That was definitely the best baseball game Ive ever been a part of. The long-suffering Royals hadnt played in the post-season since beating St. Louis in the 1985 World Series, and the excitement the permeated the city might best be summed up by a statement posted by the Kansas City Police on Twitter in about the 10th inning: We really need everyone to not commit crimes and drive safely right now. Wed like to hear the Royals clinch. For the As, it was a stunning and heartbreaking finish. They had the best record in baseball before wilting in the second half, and needed a victory on the final day of the regular season just to squeeze into the playoffs. Oakland had chances to put all that in the past. Instead, the season ended abruptly for a team that has failed over and over again in the post-season. Its kind of a microcosm of the year that we had, Doolittle said. A much-anticipated pitching showdown between Oakland ace Jon Lester and Kansas City counterpart James Shields instead turned into a high-scoring game and a battle of attrition between bullpens. It was absolutely epic, Shields said. You dont write a story like that. Doolittle tried to save it for Oakland in the ninth, but he gave up a bloop single to pinch-hitter Josh Willingham. Pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson was sacrificed to second and then brashly stole third, allowing him to score on Aokis deep fly to right field. It was the third time in the last three seasons that Doolittle has blown a post-season save. Thats the most incredible game Ive ever been a part of, Royals manager Ned Yost said. Our guys never quit. We fell behind there in the fifth inning, sixth inning. They kept battling back. They werent going to be denied. It was just a great game. UP NEXT Yost has refused to discuss who he might pitch in the opener against the Angels. The two best bets are vastly different options: Danny Duffy is a young, hard-throwing lefty who plays on passion, Jeremy Guthrie is a cerebral right-hander who relies on guile. TRAINERS ROOM Oakland C Geovany Soto left the game after hurting his left thumb tagging Hosmer at the plate to end the first inning. Post-season BLUES The As havent won a playoff series since sweeping Minnesota in the 2006 ALDS. Weve had our ups and downs, catcher Derek Norris said, especially in the playoffs. Anthony Miller Bears Jersey . The Bulls seem to be getting along fine without him. D.J. Augustin scored 27 points in a start for Kirk Hinrich and Taj Gibson matched a career high with 26 filling in for Carlos Boozer as the Bulls improved to 7-2 since trading the popular Deng with a 98-87 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday night. James Daniels Bears Jersey . Nainggolan scored his first Italian league goal at Bologna, in October 2010, and he also opened his Roma account there following his January move from Cagliari. The Belgium midfielder volleyed home Miralem Pjanics cross from close range eight minutes from time. http://www.probearsonline.com/authentic-joel-iyiegbuniwe-bears-jersey/ . Louis Blues were workmanlike, methodical and -- most of all -- effective on Monday night. Allen Robinson Bears Jersey .com) - Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson lost an appeal to have his indefinite suspension overturned, the NFL announced Friday. Chase Daniel Jersey . Kyle Shanahan was hired as offensive co-ordinator Monday after spending the previous four years in the same role with the Washington Redskins.Diafra Sakho has refused to travel with the squad for West Hams pre-season tour to Austria, according to Sky sources. The striker handed in a transfer request earlier this month after the club publicly admitted its interest in signing a big-name forward. Transfer Centre All the very latest news on the transfer front at your fingertips Sky Sports News HQ understands two Premier League clubs, as well as Sevilla and Hamburg, have all enquired about Sakhos availability. The striker was the subject of a failed £11m bid from Sunderland last month.Black Cats manager Sam Allardyce brought the Senegal international to Upton Park from Metz in 2014 when he was in charge of the Hammers. West Ham ended their US tour with a 2-2 draw against Carolina Railhawks in a game delayed by a thunderstorm The 26-year-old joined on a four-year contract and has scored 15 goals in 43 Premier League appearances.ddddddddddddest Brom are reportedly interested in Sakho, who complained of illness and stayed in the UK when the rest of the West Ham squad flew to the US for a pre-season tour. 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