Kansas City Royals players and coaches react after Eric Hosmer hit a two-run home run against the Los Angeles Angels in the 11th inning of Game 2 of baseball’s AL Division Series in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, Oct. 3, 2014.ANAHEIM, Calif. – With three extra-inning wins in four remarkable days, the long-downtrodden Kansas City Royals have climbed from the depths of a 29-year playoff absence to the brink of the AL Championship Series.
Eric Hosmer hit a two-run homer in the 11th inning, and the Royals took a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series with a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night.
Alex Gordon had an early run-scoring single and Salvador Perez added an RBI infield single in the 11th for the Royals, who became the first team in major league history to win three straight extra-inning playoff games.
“We’re going to try to figure out nine next time,” Hosmer said. “I know these games have been exciting, they’ve been taking a long time, but we’ll take a win any way we can get it.”
In its first postseason appearance since 1985, Kansas City is on a playoff roll and the majors’ best regular-season team hasn’t been able to stop it. Hosmer had three hits and scored two runs as the Royals moved within one win of the AL Championship Series.