KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Tim Tawa kept putting the ball in play until the Arizona Diamondbacks finally put the Royals away.
Tawa finished 3-for-5 with a solo homer - his 10th - and two RBI as Arizona beat Kansas City 5-3 in 11 innings on Tuesday. The Associated Press story carried on ESPN led with Corbin Burnes' return from Tommy John surgery; Tawa's bat supplied the middle chapters that made the extras matter.
ESPN's box matches Tawa's three hits, one home run, and two RBI. Burnes threw three scoreless innings in his first start since June 2025: two hits, two walks, two strikeouts on 57 pitches.
From zero to chaos
The game stayed scoreless into the eighth, when Geraldo Perdomo's sacrifice fly scored Ketel Marte for a 1-0 Arizona lead. Tawa's 413-foot solo shot in the ninth made it 2-0. John Rave answered with a two-out, two-run homer for Kansas City, tying the game and sending it toward extras.
In the 10th, Tawa singled home Gabriel Moreno to put Arizona back in front before Vinnie Pasquantino's sacrifice fly knotted it again. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. broke the deadlock in the 11th with a go-ahead triple that scored Ildemaro Vargas after a missed catch in right-center, the AP reported. Marte's sacrifice fly added an insurance run.
Blake Walston (1-0) worked two innings for the win, per ESPN's box - the AP story text referred to him as Ryan Walston, a name mismatch with the box score. Anthony Gose (1-1) took the loss.
Burnes sets the tone; Tawa finishes the work
Burnes' three innings were the headline Arizona had waited 15 months to write. Kade Strowd, Kevin Ginkel, Dennis Santana, and Jonathan Loaisiga bridged him to the late innings before Juan Morillo allowed Rave's tying blast. Walston survived the 10th and closed the 11th.
Arizona improved to 78-68 and has won five of its last six while holding the third National League wild-card spot, according to the wire. Kansas City fell to 64-82. Michael Wacha had thrown six innings of three-hit ball for the Royals before the bullpens took over.
