Royals reliever Joakim Soria entered the Thursday’s game at Tampa Bay in the eighth inning; the Royals were leading the Rays 2-0. Two pitches into the inning, Logan Forsythe singled and that brought the tying run to the plate.
Forsythe’s run did not matter — if he scored, the Royals would still have a one-run lead. The guy that mattered was standing at the plate: Kevin Kiermaier, the tying run.
Soria walked Kiermaier on five pitches.
That meant a home run would give the Rays the lead and, after Soria struck out Evan Longoria, that’s just what happened.