Tigers’ offense awakens, but pitching falters in 11-7 loss to Royals
· Yahoo Sports
For a few minutes Sunday afternoon, Kevin McGonigle and the Detroit Tigers appeared ready to turn an ugly series finale into a much-needed comeback victory.
Instead, the pitching staff immediately surrendered the momentum.
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McGonigle drove in three runs, including a game-tying two-run homer in the fifth inning, but Kansas City responded with four runs in the bottom half and completed a three-game sweep with an 11-7 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
The loss was Detroit’s fifth straight and eighth in nine games. The Tigers fell to 61-69 and seven games behind the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central. Kansas City extended its winning streak to eight games and completed a perfect 7-0 homestand and now have won eight in a row.
Detroit’s offense, quiet for most of the series, provided enough production to make Sunday’s game competitive. The problem was that every Tigers rally was followed by another response from the Royals.
Gleyber Torres opened the game with a single and scored when McGonigle ripped a double into center field. It was McGonigle’s 23rd double and gave Detroit an immediate 1-0 lead.
That advantage disappeared during a disastrous second inning.
Jacob Waguespack worked a clean first but departed with two runners aboard and one out in the second. Ty Madden hit Tyler Tolbert to load the bases, struck out Luke Maile and came within one out of escaping the jam.
Kyle Isbel prevented that escape with a two-run single. Nick Loftin then launched a three-run homer to left-center, turning a 1-0 Tigers lead into a 5-1 deficit.
Detroit finally answered in the fifth.
Max Clark walked and Javier Báez doubled, setting up an RBI groundout from Torres. Hao-Yu Lee followed with a run-scoring single before McGonigle tied the game by driving a Mason Black pitch over the right-center-field wall.
McGonigle’s 14th homer capped a four-run inning and momentarily reset the game at 5.
It was the kind of response the Tigers desperately needed after scoring only four runs across the first two games of the series. McGonigle finished 2-for-4 with a double, homer, walk and three RBIs, continuing to look comfortable near the middle of Detroit’s reshuffled lineup.
But Andrew Sears’ major-league debut quickly became a trial by fire.
Sears entered in the fourth and retired the first three hitters he faced. After Detroit tied the game, however, he walked Loftin to begin the fifth. Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez followed with consecutive RBI doubles before John Rave hit a two-run homer to right field.
Four Kansas City runs crossed the plate before the inning ended, and the Tigers were suddenly behind 9-5. Sears ultimately allowed five runs on six hits over four-plus innings and took the loss.
There were flashes worth noting in Sears’ debut. He retired nine of his first 10 batters, struck out Bobby Witt Jr. twice and recorded a pair of clean innings after the difficult fifth. Leaving him in for more than four innings also protected a bullpen that has carried a heavy workload.
Still, it illustrated the challenge of asking a recently promoted pitcher to stabilize a major-league staff during a playoff chase.
Detroit continued applying pressure. Clark’s groundout brought home a run in the sixth, while Malgeri drew a bases-loaded walk in the seventh to make it 9-7. The Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out in that seventh inning but scored only once after Colt Keith lined out, Brett Callahan struck out and Clark popped out in foul territory.
That missed opportunity became even larger when Kyle Finnegan surrendered two insurance runs in the eighth. Isbel and Loftin delivered consecutive RBI singles, pushing the Royals’ lead to 11-7.
Loftin finished 3-for-4 with a homer, four RBIs and three runs. Isbel added three RBIs as Kansas City produced 15 hits and repeatedly pressured Detroit on the bases. The Royals stole five bases, including Salvador Perez’s first of the season.
The positive was that Detroit’s young lineup did not fold after falling behind twice. McGonigle supplied the biggest swings, Lee collected two hits, Clark reached base twice and Valencia added a bunt single.
But seven runs should be enough to win. On Sunday, it was not remotely enough.
The Tigers return home Tuesday for a two-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays before the Los Angeles Dodgers arrive for three games. At this point, Detroit needs more than competitive at-bats and encouraging individual performances. It needs wins as they head into the most brutal part of their August schedule.