With 40,000 impatience fans holding their breath, Salvador Perez stepped up to the plate.

Christian Colon stood on second base in bottom of the 12 inning, and Perez came up clutch. He hit a single to left field to drive Colon in, securing the Kansas City Royals their first playoff spot in 29 years.

This type of drama fills October and the MLB Postseason with anxiety and excitement.

After falling behind 7-3 to the heavily favored Oakland Athletics, the Royals battled back in the bottom of the eight inning then capped off their rally by tying the game in the bottom of the ninth. Norichika Aoki hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Jarrod Dyson to tie the game at 7.

The Royals now move on the divisional series and will face another daunting AL West opponent, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

In the National League, the San Francisco Giants defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0 in the Wild Card game.

Madison Bumgarner, who was fourth in the NL with 18 wins during the regular season, pitched a complete game shutout with 10 strikeouts. The Giants jumped out to an early lead on a grand slam by shortstop Brandon Crawford in the top of 4 inning.

The Giants will now face the Washington Nationals in the divisional series.