A’s walk off Royals to seal comeback victory as Shea Langeliers plays hero
Off the bat, it looked like Shea Langeliers’ drive to left-center field would be the third out of the ninth inning for the Athletics. But as the ball kept falling, it was clear that Kansas City Royals outfielder Adam Frazier had misjudged it.
The A’s Max Schuemann, who had come in as a pinch runner earlier in the inning, noticed it too. By the time Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. got the ball and made a wild throw home, Schuemann had already rounded third and scored easily with a head-first slide.
That was the second of two key hits that fueled the A’s 4-3 comeback victory Friday night at Sutter Health Park.
The first came in the fifth inning, when Jacob Wilson hit a double with the bases load to tie the game at 3-3. He finished the night 1-for-4 and with a .313 batting average, the second highest in all of Major League Baseball.
That hit followed a three-run homer by Jonathan India of the Royals in the fourth inning off of A’s starter Mason Barnett who was drafted by the Royals in 2022. He made his MLB debut for the A’s last month.
Barnett went 5 2/3 innings Friday and gave up three hits. Barnett said A’s manager Mark Kotsay told him that he wanted him feeling good for next season when he took him out of the game in the sixth inning.
“I was really happy the way it finished,” Barnett said. “I’m glad we won.”
It was the ninth walk-off win for the A’s this season and the first for Langeliers. The team’s most recent came Sept. 10 against Boston after a Lawrence Butler single.
The A’s (76-84) will look to finish strong as they conclude the regular season with two more games against the Royals (80-80), 7:05 p.m. Saturday and 12:05 p.m. Sunday.
