Story by
Ryan YoungStaff writer
Wed, July 8, 2026 at 2:43 AM UTC·3 min read
The Kansas City Royals didn’t let a rough series of errors deter them Tuesday night at Citi Field
The Royals, after allowing a “Little League home run” in the opening inning, rallied all the way back to grab a 16-12 win over the New York Mets
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Tyler Tolbert matched MLB history with a hit in his 12th straight at-bat as the Royals exploded on offense for a second straight night
Carson Benge hits ‘Little League home run’
It was a brutal start to the game for the team that, just 24 hours prior, scored a run in every single inning in historic fashion during a blowout win
Carson Benge, in the opening inning of the New York Mets’ matchup with the Royals, hit a short ground ball back to Kansas City starting pitcher Seth Lugo. With two runners on and two outs, all Lugo had to do was throw to first for the final out. Instead, Lugo sent the ball flying well past first base — which allowed Benge to keep moving
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Then, to make matters worse, Jac Caglianone sailed his attempted throw over to third after recovering the ball. One more error, a throw well past home plate, allowed Benge to make it safely in. Just like that, the Mets were up 3-0 after his “home run,” though it was officially scored as a single with all runners advancing on the errors
Benge entered Tuesday’s contest with a .258 batting average, 11 home runs and 35 RBI. The 23-year-old, a first-round draft pick in 2024, was brought up to start for the Mets in right field for Opening Day
Tyler Tolbert matches MLB history
While the Royals ended up falling into a 9-4 hole, they rallied all the way back late and even took a seven-run lead after putting up seven runs in the seventh inning alone
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Tolbert, who had a two-run homer in the second inning, was the backbone of the rally. He entered the night with seven consecutive hits after the Royals’ blowout win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, and he kept it going without any issue. Tolbert hit singles in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings like clockwork to get to 12 in a row
That matched a Major League Baseball record, something only Johnny Kling, Pinky Higgins, Walt Dropo and Jose Miranda — who pulled that off most recently in 2024 — have accomplished
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Tolbert had a chance to break the record in the ninth inning, but his streak came to an end. He flew out to right field
He is the third player in the league with consecutive five-hit games since 1900 Only Hi Myers in 1917 and Roberto Clemente in 1970 have also done that
Before going 12-for-12, Tolbert was hitting just .200 on the season with seven total hits
The Royals rolled to a dominant 15-1 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, and scored a run in every single inning they had an at-bat. That made them the first team in the league to pull that feat off since the Chicago White Sox did so in 2016
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The Royals, who hold one of the worst records in baseball, have lost eight of their last 12 games and sit last in the AL Central at 38-54 after Tuesday’s win. But even after a brutal stumble out of the gate, their offense is still clicking
Despite that offensive explosion, Tuesday’s blip showed that the Royals still have some work to do
