Baseball can be a cruel game, a lesson that was hammered home to David Price in a forceful fashion by the Kansas City Royals here on Saturday afternoon.
Cruising along on a one-hitter and a three-run lead – and having retired 18 straight Royals' batters in a row – Price's world imploded around him and the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh inning.
That's where the Royals exploded for five runs off six hits that lifted Kansas City to a stunning 6-3 comeback victory over Toronto at rollicking Kauffman Stadium to take a 2-0 lead in the American League Championship Series.
The best-of-seven playoff will now return back to Canada for the next three games, starting with Game 3 on Monday night at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
The Blue Jays downfall began when the normally sure-handed Ryan Goins was uncharacteristically complacent chasing down a fly ball stroked into shallow right field off the bat of Ben Zobrist leading off the seventh.
Goins ran out as Jose Bautista, the Toronto right-fielder, charged in. Goins clearly waved Bautista off and then at the last moment pulled up himself and the ball settled into the field between them.
That opened the floodgates for what was to follow and the Blue Jays never recovered.
"The way I saw it, it looked like Ryan kind of held him [Bautista] off a little bit and he might have backed Jose up a little bit and the ball dropped in," Toronto manager John Gibbons said. "[The Royals] were looking for that one crack because David was so good."
Goins was clearly upset afterward and willingly donned to goat horns for the Toronto setback.
"I did it probably two or three times, I stuck my glove up [calling off Bautista] and then I felt like I heard something," Goins said, the reason he gave for pulling up.
Goins was asked what he heard.
"I just thought I heard an 'I got it,'" he said. "Actually, it was nothing. I should have gone more aggressively, I put my glove up like I always do, that means I got it. And I just didn't make the play."
Bautista made it clear to a group of reporters that he didn't really want to discuss the game's pivotal moment when he was asked if there was any confusion on the play between him and Goins.
"There was no confusion, I don't know what you're talking about," a terse Bautista responded. He suggested that reporters go "watch the video" of the play.
Bautista later admitted that the bloop single was a big turning point in the contest.
"Today was just one of those days where a small mistake can open the door for the other team," he said. "So, we're not going to try to over-analyze it. We'll just come in for the next game and keep playing good ball."
After giving up a lead-off single to Alcides Escobar in the first inning, Price was fabulous, retiring the next 18 batters before Zobrist's bloop single in the top of the seventh.
The Blue Jays were leading 3-0 at that point, but the advantage quickly unravelled.
Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer both followed with singles that accounted to the first K.C. run.
Kendrys Morales then hit into a fielder's choice that scored a second run before a line drive by Mike Moustakas to right tied the game.
With two out, Alex Gordon then doubled to the gap in right-centre, scoring Moustakas with the go-ahead run and the Royals would never look back.
"I just gave up hits at the wrong time," Price said afterward. "I felt good. That's a very scrappy team, they put the ball in play. They continue to battle and that was a tough loss."
Price would go 6.2-innings, allowing five runs off six hits to absorb the loss.
Price is now 0-7 in his career in his post-season starts.
"I don't think I struggled [in the seventh inning]," Price said. "It's frustrating but I didn't struggle."
Gordon said that Zobrist's hit was the turning point for the Royals.
"[Price] was cruising, we got that early at-bat," Gordon said. "Price is a tough pitcher. I felt like we needed to catch a break. And Zobrist's ball there I think got things going.
"And once this lineup gets moving it's one guy after another and it was a big seventh inning."