In crossing the quarter pole of the season, the Royals have been trending in a positive direction lately. But a nagging habit continued on Sunday.
They can’t close the deal on a series.
Sunday’s 6-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers pushed the Royals’ record this season to 3-10 in series-ending games. Last season, the Royals thrived in these situations with a 33-19 record that was the third-best in baseball.
The Royals entered the day looking to complete a sweep. Instead, they fell behind early and after drawing even fell victim to Gage Workman’s first major league home run.
Workman was pinch-hitting in the sixth inning when he pulled Nick Mears’ 85 mph slider into the right field seats. The two-run shot gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead.
The Royals, led by the top of the order, had worked to overcome a 3-0 deficit. Leadoff hitter Maikel Garcia scored and drove in a run and delivered three hits for the second time this season. A seventh inning walk made it a perfect on-base night for Garcia.
Bobby Witt Jr. added a pair of singles and scored on a Carter Jensen sacrifice fly in third.
Vinnie Pasquantino came up with an opposite-field RBI single, and Jac Caglianone opened the fourth inning with a double to the left-center wall. He came around on Garcia’s two-out single to make it 3-3.
The eighth inning provided a hopeful moment. Michael Massey, who blasted a three-run homer the previous night, stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter.
Consecutive three-run bombs? No. Massey grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Royals starter Noah Cameron labored through his four innings, throwing 95 pitches. This was a bullpen game for the Tigers. It became one for the Royals, who used four relievers over the final five frames.
Still, the Royals turned in a winning week against division rivals, splitting four games with Cleveland and winning the series with Detroit.
No Salvy on his birthday
Salvador Perez turned 36 on Sunday. He celebrated … on the bench.
Perez didn’t start and didn’t appear in the game.
“Just a day off, and we combine it with tomorrow (off day), so he gets two,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
Perez has been managing a sore hip and hasn’t started a game at catcher since May 1.
Up next: The Royals are off Monday before beginning a road series at the Chicago White Sox. The pitching matchups (Royals pitchers first): Tuesday, Stephen Kolek vs. Erick Fedde; Wednesday, Seth Lugo vs. Noah Schultz; Thursday, Kris Bubic vs. TBA. All games start at 6:40 p.m.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.kansascity.com ’
