Kansas City Royals beat Nationals in walkoff. Big events in late innings set it up

The Kansas City Royals selected first baseman Nick Pratto in the first round of the 2017 MLB Draft. On Sunday, they met up with another member of that draft class.

Washington Nationals pitcher MacKenzie Gore was selected third overall in 2017. And he lived up to his first-round status by shutting down the Royals for most of Sunday’s game at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals had no answers against Gore and the Nationals ... until he left after the seventh inning.

KC overcame a slow start, rallied in the late innings and beat Washington 3-2.

Missed previous games of the series?

Game 1: Royals surrender eight runs in sixth inning, fall 12-10 to Nats

Game 2: Royals silenced in 4-2 defeat against Nationals

Gore, who made his MLB debut last season, recorded a career-high 11 strikeouts. His fastball topped out at 97.4 mph. The pitch generated 34 swings and seven strikeouts.

He mixed in a devastating slider and curveball and the Royals were unable to make solid contact in the middle innings. Gore struck out seven of 11 batters during the third through fifth innings.

“It’s a very unique delivery and he gave us fits,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Guys were having trouble picking up the fastball. He threw some really good breaking balls, too.”

But the Royals were able to put together some consistent at-bats against the Nationals’ bullpen.

KC scratched across one run in the seventh inning. MJ Melendez hit a solo homer into the left-field seats. It was his fifth home run of the season. Edward Olivares hit a home run in the eighth inning.

“The homers were huge. It was the only offense we had.” Quatraro said.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Royals walked it off as Michael Massey drove home Melendez with a sharply hit ball to right field.

The comeback victory helped salvage a solid start from Daniel Lynch. He made his 2023 debut and look good across 5 1/3 innings. He allowed five hits, two earned runs and three walks and struck out six.

“I thought the stuff was good,” Lynch said. “I felt like I attacked. Maybe in the fourth, I could’ve shrunk the misses a little bit. It was a few uncompetitive misses. First game back, it’s a lot of intensity and these are good hitters over there.”

The Royals snapped a three-game losing streak and will head to St. Louis for a two-game series against the Cardinals starting Monday night.

“Hopefully, we can keep this going,” Melendez said. “These two games in St. Louis are going to be pretty important games for us to go and keep that momentum going. ... Being able to go into the two off-days with some wins is going to be a great feeling.”

Aroldis Chapman escapes with bases loaded

Aroldis Chapman was in quite the eighth-inning jam.

He allowed a leadoff double, single and walk to load the bases with one out. It was seemingly a no-win situation, with the Royals clinging to a one-run deficit. Chapman needed to hold the line.

He did just that in his latest Houdini act. Chapman overcame the base-path traffic and a wild pitch to keep the Nationals from scoring. He struck out Alex Call and got Riley Adams to pop up to Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to end the threat.

“The command was not his best as he loaded the bases,” Quatraro said. “That’s why you never count him out. He obviously can strike people out and he got the third out of the inning to keep it where it was. Without that, maybe it doesn’t end that way.”

Edward Olivares sends baseball into orbit

There is a distinct sound when Edward Olivares connects his bat with a baseball.

It’s loud — and the result is generally positive. In the eighth inning, Olivares blasted his fourth home run deep into the outfield seats. The solo shot traveled 452 feet and registered a 111 mph exit velocity.

That homer sent shockwaves through Kauffman Stadium (and left the video board on the Royals Hall of Fame smoking). It tied the game at 2 and provided the Royals with a late scoring opportunity.

“I waited for the pitch,” Olivares said. “(Royals assistant hitting coach) Keoni De Renne told me he might throw the slider.”

Olivares recorded four hits during the Royals’ homestand, including a double and RBI against the Detroit Tigers.

What’s next: The Royals will begin a two-game series against the Cardinals on Monday. KC has yet to announce a starter for Monday’s game. Zack Greinke will start on Tuesday night against Miles Mikolas.