The baseball hung in the sky for a lifetime, floating like a horsehide-covered offering to the Baseball Gods who had been so cruel to the Royals for the first 15 innings of the American League Division Series.
Ned Yost often jokes about the talismanic powers of Alcides Escobar as their leadoff hitter, but in the seventh inning of a series-tying, stress-reducing, mojo-restoring 5-4 victory over the Astros, the Royals experienced a genuine bit of magic.
A two-run deficit erased and a must-win game tied heading into the final frames, Escobar pounced on a first-pitch cutter from Astros reliever Will Hill.