KANSAS CITY -- The Royals reached the halfway mark of their season with a walk-off bang.Omar Infante's single off Angels reliever Jason Grilli gave the Royals a 5-4 victory in the ninth inning on Sunday, bringing 27,803 fans out of their seats with a roar at Kauffman Stadium.With one out in the Royals' ninth inning, Alex Gordon was grazed by a Grilli pitch. Salvador Perez's apparent double-play grounder was fielded by shortstop Erick Aybar, but his toss to second base was missed by Howie Kendrick for an error. 
With runners at first and third -- Pedro Ciriaco ran for Perez -- the Angels brought Kole Calhoun in from the outfield to form a five-man infield. Didn't matter because Infante lined Grilli's next pitch into left field to score Gordon and end the game.After 81 of their 162 games, the Royals have a 42-39 record. That's better than the 39-42 of last year and their most midway wins since a 43-38 mark in 2003.The Royals took this series, two games to one, and ended their homestand with a 3-6 record.Things got messy for the usually-impeccable Kansas City defense in the early innings. Two errors led to two unearned runs.There was nothing unearned about the Angels' first run, though. Calhoun opened the game by belting Jeremy Guthrie's second pitch over the right-field wall.And then Mike Trout lined a single and stood at first base through two outs. The third out appeared to be in progress as right fielder Lorenzo Cain loped toward Aybar's routine fly ball. But, oops, the ball dropped safely between Cain and center fielder Jarrod Dyson. That allowed Trout to score and Cain was charged with an error.The Angels' third inning began with Calhoun's ground ball to first baseman Eric Hosmer. But, oops, his toss to Guthrie covering first base was high and the ball went off the pitcher's glove. Hosmer was assessed a two-base error.Trout walked and the Royals caught a break -- or made one -- when he was called safe at second base and they challenged the decision. Instant replay overturned the call, meaning that Albert Pujols had grounded into a double play. However, Josh Hamilton singled to right and Calhoun was home with another unearned run for a 3-0 lead.The Royals were taking on C.J. Wilson, a left-hander they'd never beaten. A reliever until five years ago, Wilson had a 4-0 record with six saves and a 2.73 ERA in his 16 previous outings (six starts) against the Royals. And his team had won each of the last 14 times he'd faced them.However, in the fourth inning the Royals disposed of Wilson with a four-run outburst as they batted around against him.Wilson started the hubbub by hitting Perez with a pitch. Infante doubled to right-center and Danny Valencia drilled an RBI single to left. Alcides Escobar walked to load the bases and, after Dyson struck out, Cain lined a two-run double to left, his third hit in four innings.Hosmer's hard liner was caught behind second base by the perfectly-positioned shortstop, Aybar. Billy Butler was intentionally walked to load the bases and Gordon was unintentionally walked to force in a run for a 4-3 lead. That ended Wilson's afternoon, bringing in Cory Rasmus to get the third out as Perez popped up.Gordon got his sixth assist in the sixth inning and the timing was good for the Royals. He dug out Pujols' hit to the left-field corner, threw to Escobar who relayed to Infante at second base. Pujols, neglecting to slide, was tagged out as he stepped toward the bag.That meant the bases were empty when Aybar pulled a drive into the right-field bullpen, his sixth homer, for a 4-4 tie.Guthrie worked 6 2/3 innings, yielding the mound after the Angels had loaded the bases after two outs. Reliever Kelvin Herrera came in and got Pujols on a fly ball to center.Wade Davis worked a scoreless eighth and Greg Holland threw a perfect ninth and got the victory.Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
With runners at first and third -- Pedro Ciriaco ran for Perez -- the Angels brought Kole Calhoun in from the outfield to form a five-man infield. Didn't matter because Infante lined Grilli's next pitch into left field to score Gordon and end the game.After 81 of their 162 games, the Royals have a 42-39 record. That's better than the 39-42 of last year and their most midway wins since a 43-38 mark in 2003.The Royals took this series, two games to one, and ended their homestand with a 3-6 record.Things got messy for the usually-impeccable Kansas City defense in the early innings. Two errors led to two unearned runs.There was nothing unearned about the Angels' first run, though. Calhoun opened the game by belting Jeremy Guthrie's second pitch over the right-field wall.And then Mike Trout lined a single and stood at first base through two outs. The third out appeared to be in progress as right fielder Lorenzo Cain loped toward Aybar's routine fly ball. But, oops, the ball dropped safely between Cain and center fielder Jarrod Dyson. That allowed Trout to score and Cain was charged with an error.The Angels' third inning began with Calhoun's ground ball to first baseman Eric Hosmer. But, oops, his toss to Guthrie covering first base was high and the ball went off the pitcher's glove. Hosmer was assessed a two-base error.Trout walked and the Royals caught a break -- or made one -- when he was called safe at second base and they challenged the decision. Instant replay overturned the call, meaning that Albert Pujols had grounded into a double play. However, Josh Hamilton singled to right and Calhoun was home with another unearned run for a 3-0 lead.The Royals were taking on C.J. Wilson, a left-hander they'd never beaten. A reliever until five years ago, Wilson had a 4-0 record with six saves and a 2.73 ERA in his 16 previous outings (six starts) against the Royals. And his team had won each of the last 14 times he'd faced them.However, in the fourth inning the Royals disposed of Wilson with a four-run outburst as they batted around against him.Wilson started the hubbub by hitting Perez with a pitch. Infante doubled to right-center and Danny Valencia drilled an RBI single to left. Alcides Escobar walked to load the bases and, after Dyson struck out, Cain lined a two-run double to left, his third hit in four innings.Hosmer's hard liner was caught behind second base by the perfectly-positioned shortstop, Aybar. Billy Butler was intentionally walked to load the bases and Gordon was unintentionally walked to force in a run for a 4-3 lead. That ended Wilson's afternoon, bringing in Cory Rasmus to get the third out as Perez popped up.Gordon got his sixth assist in the sixth inning and the timing was good for the Royals. He dug out Pujols' hit to the left-field corner, threw to Escobar who relayed to Infante at second base. Pujols, neglecting to slide, was tagged out as he stepped toward the bag.That meant the bases were empty when Aybar pulled a drive into the right-field bullpen, his sixth homer, for a 4-4 tie.Guthrie worked 6 2/3 innings, yielding the mound after the Angels had loaded the bases after two outs. Reliever Kelvin Herrera came in and got Pujols on a fly ball to center.Wade Davis worked a scoreless eighth and Greg Holland threw a perfect ninth and got the victory.Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
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