Royals 4 - 3 Mets
Final/12
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Maxwell helps Royals down Mets in 12

Aug 4, 2013 - 3:13 AM Flushing, NY (Sports Network) - Pinch-hitter Justin Maxwell hit a solo homer in the top of the 12th inning to lift the Kansas City Royals over the New York Mets, 4-3, in the second contest of a three-game series.

George Kottaras also hit a solo homer for the Royals, who bounced back from a 4-2, 11-inning loss in Friday's series opener. Alex Gordon and Miguel Tejada each knocked in a run.

Kansas City starter Bruce Chen allowed one run on four hits while striking out eight over six innings. Kelvin Herrera (4-5) tossed three scoreless innings of relief to pick up the win.

Josh Satin drove in two runs for the Mets, who have lost three of four. Daniel Murphy hit a solo homer.

Jeremy Hefner got the start for New York and allowed three runs on eight hits over six innings. David Aardsma (2-1) gave up the homer to Maxwell to take the loss.

"They're a real aggressive team, and so [I was] just trying to get them to put it in play early," Hefner said. "My pitch count was starting to get up there again. Just trying to do that, and I did that pretty well today."

Murphy's homer in the second inning gave the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Kottaras answered with a solo shot of his own in the third for the Royals, who tacked on two more runs later in the frame. Chen, Lorenzo Cain and Eric Hosmer hit three straight singles to load the bases with no outs. After Billy Butler struck out swinging, Gordon hit a sacrifice fly to right. Tejada followed with an RBI single to right.

New York scored two runs off Aaron Crow in the eighth to tie the game. Pinch- hitter Andrew Brown singled down the left-field line, advanced to second on a passed ball and moved to third on Juan Lagares' single to shallow center field. Lagares stole second before Satin knocked in both runners with a single up the middle.

With the score still tied at 3-3, the Mets sent Aardsma to the mound in the 12th. Maxwell greeted him with a blast over the wall in left.

"Pinch-hitting is not easy. It's probably the toughest thing to do on the baseball field," Maxwell said. "You've got to be aggressive and be ready to hit because you never know when you're going to get a good pitch to hit and you can't miss it."

Greg Holland retired the Mets in order in the bottom half to pick up his 29th save of the season.

Game Notes

New York placed third baseman David Wright on the 15-day disabled list and recalled outfielder Mike Baxter from Triple-A Las Vegas ... Tejada went 3- for-4.






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