{"id":2408927,"date":"2026-05-09T10:27:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T10:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2408927"},"modified":"2026-05-09T10:27:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T10:27:17","slug":"tigers-fail-to-protect-3-1-lead-lose-to-royals-on-walk-off-single","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/tigers-fail-to-protect-3-1-lead-lose-to-royals-on-walk-off-single\/","title":{"rendered":"Tigers fail to protect 3-1 lead, lose to Royals on walk-off single"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Kansas City, Mo.<\/em> \u2014 The Tigers under manager AJ Hinch have prided themselves on being able to shut out the noise and static and stay focused on the game at hand.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s been tough to do in this recent stretch.<\/p>\n

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More: <\/strong>Detroit Tigers, Game 39: One thing I loved, one thing I didn’t<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hearing it from everywhere,\u201d Hinch said. \u201cAll the issues, all the injuries, all the change that\u2019s going on around our team. … This is a good team. We\u2019re a little battered right now, a little beat up, and we\u2019re having to answer a lot of questions about the frustrating side of this sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our reality right now. Guys have to come out confident and ready to play. I try to give them a dose that reality every day. This is the challenge. It\u2019s our time to be tested.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Count Friday night as a continuation of the test. Maybe an intensification of it.<\/p>\n

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The Tigers lost a 3-1 lead in the span of three hitters in the bottom of the eighth and then were walked off with two outs in the ninth \u2014 dropping their fourth straight, 4-3 to the Kansas City Royals.<\/p>\n

“We didn’t finish the game,” said Hinch, whose team falls three games under .500 (18-21). “Credit (the Royals) for staying in there and then the bottom of their order, with two out and nobody on, they scratch their way to a win. It’s a tough loss. It was in our grasp, but we didn’t do enough.”<\/p>\n

Kyle Finnegan<\/a>, who had allowed just one run this season in 17.2 innings, gave up a double to Michael Massey<\/a> and an RBI single by Kyle Isbel<\/a> to make it 3-2. Isbel\u2019s ball got by right-fielder Wenceel Perez<\/a> and rolled all the way to the track.<\/p>\n

Isbell stopped at third and scored the tying run on a single by Maikel Garcia<\/a><\/p>\n

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“It’s a mistake,” Hinch said. “But the batter-runner (Isbel) was the bigger deal. With him on first, they’ve got to do a lot to get him into scoring position and then across the plate.”<\/p>\n

Finnegan left after walking Bobby Witt, Jr.. Lefty Brant Hurter<\/a> took over and kept the game tied. He got Vinnie Pasquantino<\/a> to ground into a 3-6-1 double-play, scampering over to cover first.<\/p>\n

BOX SCORE: Royals 4, Tigers 3<\/a><\/p>\n

Hinch had Kenley Jansen<\/a> warming but the Royals had a pocket of left-handed hitters due up in the ninth so he stuck with Hurter.<\/p>\n

After getting the first two outs, Hurter left a sinker up to right-handed pinch-hitter Nick Loftin<\/a> and he drove it into the left-center gap for a double. Isbel, a left-handed hitter was next. Lefties were 2-for-31 against Hurter coming into the game.<\/p>\n

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Hurter jammed him with a sinker. Isbel fought it off and snuck it (67-mph exit velocity) through the left side of the infield for the game-winning single.<\/p>\n

“I shouldn’t have given up the double,” Hurter said. “It was supposed to be a sinker in and I missed away and he put a good swing on it. That base hit (by Isbel), I’m more concerned about the double. If he’s not on, that single isn’t an issue.”<\/p>\n

So the frustration mounts. The Tigers were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Zach McKinstry<\/a> led off the top of the ninth with a double and he never moved. In the top of the eighth, Isbel made two superb catches on drives by Perez and Torkelson.<\/p>\n

And then to lose on a seeing-eye single.<\/p>\n

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“That’s baseball,” said Torkelson, who doubled in a run in the Tigers’ two-run sixth inning. “We got good pitches to hit, put good swings on them and they made good plays. You tip your cap. We’re going to get those jam-jobs and cap singles, too. It’s part of the game.”<\/p>\n

It comes down to winning battles, though. And the Royals won more of them.<\/p>\n

“You want to keep giving yourself as many opportunities as you can,” Hinch said. “And in a game like this, if you can just inch away a little bit, it gives you a little bit of breathing room so the back-to-back hits is no pressure. The two-out double is no pressure. But they won those battles.<\/p>\n

“As much as we’re happy with Hurter working through the eighth and Tyler Holton<\/a> working through his inning (the seventh), you’ve got to win the at-bats and their side one the at-bats on the pitching side with runners in scoring position. It was the difference in the game.”<\/p>\n

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The Royals were 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position.<\/p>\n

“I haven’t felt it in the locker room,” Hurter said when asked if all the injuries and losses are starting to take a toll. “Just some tough breaks. We are going to be fine with it and we’re going to come back strong. I don’t think there’s any pressing or anything like that.”<\/p>\n

Keider Montero<\/a> put the Tigers were in position to win with another stout pitching performance. He pounded the strike zone and generated a lot of early contact from the Royals hitters. He worked efficiently through six innings on 71 pitches, yielding three hits and one run.<\/p>\n

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