After a nice Thursday off day, the Tigers are in Kansas City hoping to get some games back in the AL Central and push their way back towards first. The AL Central is an extremely tight race at the moment, so every game really does count, even this early in the year. The Tigers had Keider Montero on the mound, up against Kris Bubic for the Royals. Detroit is still trying to find out what their pitching rotation is going to look like as they come to terms with major pitching losses, so we’ll see how things pan out over the coming week to get an idea of A.J. Hinch’s plans.
With one out in the top of the first, Kevin McGonigle got a walk. After another out, he successfully stole second. His hustle was admirable, but ultimately didn’t help, as the next at-bat was a groundout to end the inning. In the home half Montero got the Royals out in order.
Riley Greene got the second started with a double. Wenceel Perez then singled, but Greene was held at third. With men on the corners, Spencer Torkelson came up to bat and hit into a double play, but the Tigers managed to score their first run of the game, getting Greene home. They’d have to settle for just the one run, but it gave them an early lead. With two outs in the home half, Jac Caglianone doubled. Then Isaac Collins singled, bringing Caglianone home and tying up the game.
Freshly re-signed Zack Short got a leadoff walk to get the third started. McGonigle then grounded into a force out, eliminating Short. A wild pitch let McGonigle advance to second. Once again, though, McGonigle’s great baserunning wasn’t rewarded as a groundout ended the inning. In the home half, the Royals went 1-2-3.
Riley Greene continued to be a workhorse, reaching first on a fumbled catch by Vinnie Pasquantino. It was ruled a single but I’m pretty sure it was an error. Montero got the Royals out three-up, three-down, that’s seven Royals in a row, if you want the running count. A pretty nice game thus far for Montero.
In the top of the fifth, Short got another walk, this time with one out in the inning. He was then eliminated again in a force-out off the bat of Matt Vierling. The Tigers weren’t able to convert the baserunner, however. So far the teams have been very well-balanced in this game, which is great, but also scoring runs is fun, let’s do more of that. It was another 1-2-3 for Montero in the bottom of the inning.
For the first batter of the sixth, Jahmai Jones drew a walk, but Bubic challenged the call. The call was upheld as ball four. Jones was then eliminated in a force out off the bat of Dillon Dingler (stop me if you’ve heard this series of events before). With two outs, Wenceel Perez doubled and Dingler was able to get all the way home, and was safe largely because catcher Carter Jensen very literally dropped the ball before attempting to tag Dingler. It was a very hectic-feeling play, but the Tigers came out ahead with the run.
Bubic’s day was done after that, and he was replaced by Nick Mears. Spencer Torkelson then doubled into deep left, bringing home Perez.
The Tigers would settle for two, but given the pace of the game, those two runs would likely be very, very relevant. With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Bobby Witt Jr. singled, the first time the Royals got a baserunner on since the second. Pasquantino then walked. Montero was definitely starting to look shaky at this point, throwing some pitches way out of the zone, repeatedly asking for signs, just looking very uneasy. He did manage to induce the final out of the inning, though, and that was likely his last batter for the night. His final line was 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K on 71 pitches. A pretty solid outing for him overall.
Luinder Avila was the new Royals pitcher in the mix in the top of the seventh. Matt Vierling got a one-out double. He was ultimately left stranded, however. Tyler Holton came out of the Tigers’ bullpen in the bottom of the inning and he got the Royals out in order.
John Schreiber was the next Royals pitcher. With one out, Riley Greene singled right between two diving fielders to get on first. That would be the only baserunner the Tigers would get for the inning. In the home half, Kyle Finnegan came on. The first thing he did was give up a leadoff double to Michael Massey. Kyle Isbel singled, scoring Massey, but because of a fielding error where Wenceel Perez simply couldn’t find the ball, sent Isbel to third. Then Maikal Garcia came in, singled, and scored Isbel to tie the game. On what would have been the first out of the inning for the Tigers, the Royals challenged the third strike call and it was ruled to be a ball, sending Bobby Witt Jr. to first. That was it for Finnegan, who was replaced by Brant Hurter. He induced a double play and helped cover first to get the job done. Salvador Perez walked, but a groundout did end the inning. The game headed to the ninth in a tie.
Lucas Erceg, the Royals closer, came in for the ninth. Zach McKinstry got a leadoff double. Zack Short then popped out into the infield, but this resulted in a pause in the game as Erceg and new catcher Lane Thomas collided hard to try getting the pop-up bunt near home. McGonigle battled out a two-out walk, but Colt Keith then popped out to end the inning. With two outs, Nick Loftin doubled. Then Isbel singled to score Loftin and walk off the game with a Royals’ win.
Better luck tomorrow, guys.
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