Royals rally in ninth inning to beat Baltimore 6-4, take 2-0 lead in ALCS (VIDEO)

The deciding strike arrived without warning. More than 40,000 sets of eyes focused on Royals rookie Terrance Gore, the pinch runner with near-mythic speed, as he stood at second. Baltimore closer Zack Britton and the rest of his infield shifted themselves to protect against Gore’s legs.

At least one man in the ballpark was not thinking about Gore. His name was Alcides Escobar. He stood at home plate. When Britton threw a 97-mph fastball to start their encounter, Escobar declined to wait for Gore to run. He brought him home himself with an RBI double and a game-winning hit in a 6-4 victory in the second game of the American League Championship Series.

A few minutes later, Lorenzo Cain clapped his hands as he jogged down line on an RBI single of his own. The Royals did not save their magic for extra innings on Saturday. Instead they distilled it in regulation for just the second time in these playoffs, notching two runs off Britton in the ninth.

The Royals remain unbeaten in the postseason. They flew home to Kansas City late Saturday evening in full command of this series, and capable of finishing it over three games at Kauffman Stadium. On Saturday, after another draining outing, the lone lingering concern was the health of starting Yordano Ventura.

Ventura lacked his command all afternoon at Camden Yards. He gave up four runs and departed after 5 2/3 innings due to an injury the club described as tightness in his right shoulder. The Royals listed him as day-to-day.

Once he departed, the bullpen still held firm. Brandon Finnegan picked up the last out in the sixth. Kelvin Herrera navigated through the seventh in memorable fashion.

He had thrown two innings the night before, but only used 20 pitches to do so. The team considered him available for one frame on Saturday. It was an eventful and confounding inning. Herrera put the go-ahead run on by neglecting to tag first base on a routine fielding play. He walked a batter and gave up a one-out single to Nelson Cruz.

A clear path opened for Orioles outfielder to score on Cruz’s hit. But the ball fell in left field. As Alex Gordon reared back to throw, Baltimore third-base coach Bobby Dickerson held up a stop sign. Granted a reprieve, Herrera induced fly outs from Steve Pearce and J.J. Hardy to hold the tie.

Eventually, they would break through.

The Kansas City offense continues to flow from unlikely sources. In September, Mike Moustakas launched nary a home run. So, of course, in six postseason games he has walloped four homers, including a go-ahead, solo shot in Saturday’s fourth inning. He tied Willie Wilson’s four-home outburst in 1980 for the most in one postseason in franchise history.

Moustakas’ two-run blast the night before insured the Royals would capture Game 1. They did not even receive 12 hours to bask in their victory. The television schedule dictated they return to the ballpark for an afternoon start. They tugged on beanies and sweatshirts for batting practice to ward off the lowering temperatures.

Their bats stoked instant heat. Orioles manager Buck Showalter held his cards to his chest for as long as possible, waiting until early Saturday morning to name his starter for the second game. At last he revealed his hand and tabbed Bud Norris for the start.

The delay did little to perturb Kansas City. Nori Aoki slapped a one-out single in the game’s second at-bat. When Norris threw a slider in the next at-bat, Lorenzo Cain kept his hands under control and dumped a double into right field. Aoki held at third.

With two runners in scoring position, the Royals benefited from good luck and better baserunning. The luck belonged to Eric Hosmer, who shattered his bat and blooped a single to shallow left. Cain did the running. Even with one out, he charged toward third, only stopping to make sure shortstop J.J. Hardy’s dive came up empty. The throw from left fielder Alejandro De Aza was too late, and the Royals had a two-run lead.

Cain contributed to another rally two innings later. He opened the door with a two-out, infield single, his top touching the bag just before Steve Pearce gloved a throw from Hardy. After another single by Hosmer, Billy Butler dunked an RBI double into right.

Yost did not have a difficult choice in naming his pitcher for this game. Ventura stunned the Angels for seven innings of one-run baseball in the American League Division Series. In two starts against the Orioles this season, Ventura struck out 17 and allowed just two runs.

Across those 14 1/3 innings, which occurred on April 25 and May 15, Ventura issued a total of three walks. He matched that amount in a curious second-inning performance. After humming 11 pitches — 10 fastballs and a cutter — in a spotless first inning, he lost the plot. He threw 27 pitches in the second. Only 11 were strikes. He limited the damage to a sacrifice fly by catcher Caleb Joseph.

The problem resurfaced in the third. De Aza smashed a double down the first-base line. Facing Adam Jones, Ventura followed with a fastball too high and a cutter too low. He lacked little choice but to throw a 2-0 strike. Jones demolished the center-cut, 95-mph fastball for a game-tying home run.

That was the first homer of the series for the Orioles, who led the majors during the regular season. The Royals finished in last place in that category. They resemble a different club this month, and relied upon three long balls to guide them in game one. On Saturday, with two outs and the bases empty in the fourth, Moustakas demolished a hanging slider from Norris to pull Kansas City back ahead.

Heading into the fifth, Yost faced a choice. The Orioles turned their lineup around for the third time heading into the frame. The night before, Yost stuck with James Shields during a similar juncture and watched Shields cough up three runs in the fifth. Ventura was reeling, but he still jogged from his dugout to start the fifth.

During the regular season, Ventura showed little signs of strain when facing a lineup for the third time. He held hitters to a .710 on-base plus slugging percentage, which was actually better than the .737 OPS hitters punched up against him when seeing him for the second time.

The Orioles are unlike most other clubs. They won 96 regular-season games for a reason, most of it related to their relentless offense. De Aza and Jones each notched singles off Ventura with one out in the inning. With runners at the corners, Nelson Cruz hit a sharp grounder to shortstop. Alcides Escobar ranged to his left and threw to Omar Infante.

A nagging shoulder condition has dogged Infante for months. At the end of the season, he could require surgery. For now he continues to gut through games, but the injury has reduced his pregame preparation. He rarely practices double-play turns with Escobar. With the lead on the line, he skipped a sidearm throw to first. Cruz beat it.

The lead was gone, but Ventura was not. He stayed in the game and collected the first two outs of the sixth. His 91st pitch was a 98-mph fastball to Joseph. A grimace creased his face after his next offering. Trainer Nick Kenney inspected him at the mound, and removed him from the game.

This story was originally published October 11, 2014 at 7:36 PM with the headline "Royals rally in ninth inning to beat Baltimore 6-4, take 2-0 lead in ALCS (VIDEO)."