All is forgiven, Ned Yost.
The Royals manager was the most hated man on the planet after his bullpen mismanagement led to the Royals coughing up a one-run lead and turning it into a four-run deficit during Tuesday’s Wild Card playoff game against the Oakland A’s.
But Yost is off the hook now after Kansas City rallied to tie the game on a Nori Aoki sac fly in the ninth, then win it it in the 12th on an RBI single by Salvador Perez.
Perez was 0-for-5 entering the at-bat, including a strikeout with the tying run on base in the eighth. But his hard grounder down the third-base line won it — and sent the crowd at Kauffman Stadium into a frenzy as the Royals won their first playoff game since the 1985 World Series.
Perez’s hit capped a wild 12th inning that included a triple off the left-field wall by Eric Hosmer. Hosmer scored on a chopper to third by Christian Colon, who stole second and later came around to score on Perez’s game-winner.
Here’s a look at Perez’s hit from the stands:
