KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) — In a back-and-forth contest decided by a chaotic final play, the Kansas City Royals rallied to defeat the Baltimore Orioles 6-5 on Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium, snapping a four-game losing streak.

The most important part of the game unfolded in a wild bottom of the ninth inning. With the score tied 5-5, Baltimore reliever Ryan Helsley walked Maikel Garcia and Bobby Witt Jr. to put the winning run in scoring position with no outs. After a strikeout and a wild pitch moved both runners up, Helsley unleashed another wild pitch with Vinnie Pasquantino at the plate, allowing Garcia to dash home from third base with the game-winning run.

The victory went to Royals reliever Lucas Erceg, who pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to earn his first win of the season. Helsley took the loss for Baltimore, falling to 0-2.

The game featured dramatic swings, beginning with Baltimore’s early offensive burst. After a quiet first inning, the Orioles struck for three runs in the second against Royals starter Kris Bubic. Jeremiah Jackson singled and Weston Wilson walked ahead of Coby Mayo, who launched a three-run homer to left field. The call was reviewed by the umpire crew but stood, giving Mayo his first home run of the year and a 3-0 Baltimore lead.

Kansas City answered with a run in its half of the second on a sacrifice fly from Michael Massey, scoring Carter Jensen who had doubled. The Royals then chipped away at Orioles starter Shane Baz, tying the game with two runs in the fifth. Kyle Isbel doubled and scored on a Maikel Garcia single. Garcia later came home on a sacrifice fly from Pasquantino, knotting the score at 3-3.

The game remained tied until the seventh, when Isbel’s third hit of the night, a double, led to another run. He advanced to third on a walk and scored on a sacrifice fly from Witt Jr., giving Kansas City its first lead at 4-3.

Baltimore responded immediately in the top of the eighth against reliever Lucas Erceg. Gunnar Henderson doubled with one out, bringing catcher Adley Rutschman to the plate. Rutschman connected on a two-run homer to left-center field, his first of the season, to vault the Orioles back in front 5-4.

The Royals’ resilience showed again in the bottom of the eighth. Leading off against Baltimore reliever Rico Garcia, Michael Massey crushed a solo home run to right field, his first of the year, to tie the game at 5-5 and set the stage for the ninth-inning drama.

Massey, who entered the game in a 1-for-13 slump over his previous four contests, finished 2-for-3 with the game-tying homer and two RBIs, earning top star honors for Kansas City.

Baz delivered a solid start for Baltimore, allowing four runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings, striking out four. Bubic was effective for Kansas City, giving up three runs on five hits across six innings of work.

Baltimore’s offense was led by Mayo’s three RBIs and Rutschman’s two-run homer, accounting for all five Orioles runs. Kansas City’s 10-hit attack was paced by Isbel, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs scored.

The announced attendance was 15,164, and the game took 2 hours, 59 minutes to complete.

With the win, Kansas City improved to 8-16 on the season, while Baltimore fell to 11-13. The victory defied the pregame projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 4-2 Orioles win, though the Royals were slight favorites according to the system’s ELO probability.

The two teams will conclude their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. Baltimore will then return home to open a series with the Boston Red Sox on Friday, while Kansas City will welcome the Los Angeles Angels to town to start a weekend set.