Willy Adames had been chatting with Royals fans near the Milwaukee dugout throughout the game. The friendly banter continued as the Brewers took a two-run lead and then the Royals fought back to lead by two runs in the ninth inning.
With two outs and two runners on base, Adames was next up to bat with the game hanging in the balance. “They told me they wanted me to hit a three-run homer,” Adames later said, “and I was like, ‘I got you.'”
Adames then hit an 83 mph curveball from Royals closer James McArthur into the left-field bullpen, securing Milwaukee’s 6-5 victory on Tuesday night. As he returned to the dugout, the Kansas City fans jokingly praised him.
“It was really priceless,” said Brewers manager Pat Murphy, who witnessed the called-shot moment. “It was cool.”
Jared Koenig (3-1) got the win for Milwaukee, retiring Hunter Renfroe to end the seventh inning and then pitching a scoreless eighth. Trevor Megill breezed through the ninth inning to earn his third save in three opportunities.
Vinnie Pasquantino drove in three runs for Kansas City, while Salvador Perez and Kyle Isbel also had RBI hits. “That one hurts,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro confessed, “but we’ve done that to other people as well.”
Rhys Hoskins and Joey Ortiz hit consecutive home runs off Royals starter Seth Lugo in the second inning. However, that was the only offense the Brewers could generate until the seventh inning when they scored another run.
They missed a chance to get closer when Angel Zerpa struck out Gary Sanchez to leave two runners on base in the seventh inning. They also missed another opportunity in the eighth inning when John Schreiber struck out Oliver Dunn to strand two more runners.
But in the ninth inning, the Brewers didn’t waste their last chance. McArthur (1-2) had retired the first two batters when William Contreras doubled just inside the left-field foul line on a full-count pitch to kickstart the comeback. Sanchez followed with a walk before Adames confidently stepped up to the plate.
“He’s joking around with them during Gary’s at-bat, and he’s telling them — they’re Kansas City fans — he’s telling them, ‘One more ball,'” Murphy said. “Then he goes back to them and goes, ‘Here we go.'” And there it went, right into the left-field bullpen.
