Baseball-Royals rally in 12th to beat A's in Wild Card game

Reuters

KANSAS CITY, Sept 30 (Reuters) - The Kansas City Royals beat the Oakland Athletics 9-8 in a thrilling, 12-inning do-or-die Wild Card playoff on Tuesday in their first postseason game in 29 years. Salvador Perez, who twice had failed to drive in runs from third base earlier in the game, pulled a base hit past a diving third baseman Josh Donaldson to score Christian Colon and end a nearly five-hour battle. The action-packed victory in the one-game showdown sent Kansas City to a best-of-five AL Divisional Series against the Angels starting on Thursday in Los Angeles. The National League Wild Card playoff is set for Wednesday between the visiting San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates. (Writing by Larry Fine in New York; Editing by John O'Brien)