Arizona Diamondbacks at Kansas City Royals: Final Score & Recap
Line Score
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AZ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| KC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
The Story
The Arizona Diamondbacks rallied from a late deficit to defeat the Kansas City Royals 5-3 in eleven innings on September 8, 2026, at Kauffman Stadium. The game was scoreless through seven innings before offense finally emerged in the eighth, and the DiamondIQ model's estimate of Kansas City's win probability, which opened at 44% before first pitch, collapsed to zero percent by the final out as Arizona authored a comeback built almost entirely on high-leverage swing plays in the game's final frames.
The decisive sequence began in the bottom of the ninth when John Rave connected on a home run off Juan Morillo, a swing that shifted win probability by plus 48.9 points and represented the single most impactful play of the night for either club. That blast kept Kansas City alive and forced extra innings, but Arizona regained control in the tenth. Tim Tawa singled off Steven Cruz for a plus 29.5-point win-probability swing, though Jordan Lawlar nearly negated the rally with a lineout that swung 18.7 points in Kansas City's favor. The Royals threatened in the bottom of the tenth, but Carter Jensen's strikeout against Blake Walston, worth plus 23.7 points to Arizona's win probability, ended the inning. Ketel Marte then delivered a sacrifice fly off Anthony Gose in the eleventh, a plus 21.2-point swing that pushed the Diamondbacks ahead for good.
On the mound, Michael Wacha led all pitchers with a plus 32.1-point WPA contribution, while Jonathan Loaisiga added plus 23.3 and Kevin Ginkel contributed plus 12.7 in Arizona's bullpen effort. Offensively, Rave finished as the game's top performer at plus 43.6 WPA and plus 1.4 RE24, while Tawa posted plus 37.6 WPA and a team-best plus 1.6 RE24, and Marte closed out the standout performers with plus 27.7 WPA and plus 1.1 RE24.