The Detroit Tigers have been resilient over the past two weeks, mounting comebacks and creating winning streaks. By battling until the final out, they’re no longer the worst team in baseball.
Despite their continued efforts, the Tigers (18-27) were unable to grab the lead in Saturday’s 7-5 loss to the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium in the second of three games in the series — snapping a four-game winning streak. The first pitch of the game was delayed by one hour and 21 minutes because of rain.
“We’re going to keep fighting and play the entire game,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said Saturday. “I’m proud of our guys’ effort. We gave ourselves plenty of opportunities. They outplayed us and got the win.”
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Although the Tigers chased Royals starter Brady Singer in the seventh inning and loaded the bases against reliever Scott Barlow, he escaped trouble by striking out Jeimer Candelario and Miguel Cabrera looking.
In the ninth inning, Robbie Grossman cut the deficit to two runs, 7-5, by crushing a two-run homer off reliever Josh Staumont. With no outs, Harold Castro singled and Candelario drew a walk. Cabrera flied out to right field, but Niko Goodrum — who pinch-hit in the eighth — singled to load the bases.
Jonathan Schoop was called out on strikes amid an eight-pitch battle for the second out. Willi Castro struck out swinging to end the game. Staumont threw 36 pitches in the ninth inning.
Detroit went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The offense produced five runs on 11 hits and four walks.
“We had plenty of traffic on our own side to create a few more runs,” Hinch said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t.”
The series finale is set for 2:10 p.m. Sunday. Right-hander Casey Mize is starting for the Tigers, opposed by lefty Kris Bubic.
Shaky outing
Left-hander Matthew Boyd started for the Tigers and pitched five innings. He gave up five runs on eight hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. He threw 64 of his 93 pitches for strikes.
His first inning featured command issues, as Boyd gave up a walk and two singles to load the bases with no outs. Andrew Benintendi delivered a one-out single for a 2-0 lead before Boyd struck out back-to-back batters to keep the Royals from overwhelming him.
In the fourth inning, consecutive doubles from Kelvin Gutierrez and Michael A. Taylor gave Kansas City a 3-2 edge. A sacrifice bunt advanced Taylor to third base, and Nicky Lopez scored him with a sacrifice fly to center for a 4-2 lead.
“I had some chances to put guys away in two-strike counts and it didn’t happen,” Boyd said. “Those are some situations where I could have been a little sharper. All in all, there were probably just a few pitches that could’ve been more down and away…. Unfortunately, some of those let guys get into at-bats where they could put the bat on the ball.”
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The Royals tossed in a fifth run against Boyd in the fifth inning on an infield single from Benintendi. Boyd loaded the bases with consecutive walks but avoided further issues after a mound visit from pitching coach Chris Fetter.
“I didn’t feel like the game was getting away from me or anything like that,” Boyd said, “so I think (Hinch) saw that and trusted me to get that out right there.”
Boyd tossed 40 four-seam fastballs, 24 changeups, 20 sliders, six curveballs and three two-seam fastballs. He generated 13 swings and misses — six with his four-seamer, five with his changeup and two with his slider — and 12 called strikes.
He was forced to labor in the first, fourth and fifth innings, with 28, 18 and 28 pitches, respectively. He only used 19 pitches for the second and third innings combined.
“No one knows the outcome if I would’ve executed a little better early on,” Boyd said, “but it would’ve helped out the cause to execute early on.”
Kyle Funkhouser and Joe Jimenez each allowed one run in the sixth and seventh innings, giving the Royals a 7-3 advantage. Jimenez, who has struggled since the 2020 season, needed 23 pitches for the seventh frame. He walked one, struck out two batters and fired 13 strikes. Tyler Alexander pitched a scoreless eighth.
Baddoo strikes
After falling behind 2-0, the Tigers struck back in the second inning against Singer. Singles from Cabrera and Schoop, along with a two-out walk from Wilson Ramos, loaded the bases for rookie Akil Baddoo.
Although Baddoo, 22, has slowed down since his unbelievable start to the season, the Rule 5 draft pick didn’t back down from an 0-2 slider with two outs. He slapped a single down the third-base line to drive in two runs and tie the game.
In his six games entering Saturday, Baddoo was 5-for-13 (.385) with three RBIs, five walks and five strikeouts. He went 3-for-3 with one walk in Saturday’s contest and is hitting .247 through 33 games.
“Believe it or not, when you’re not playing, you can learn a lot,” Baddoo said. “That’s definitely what I’m doing…. Just being simple and trying not to overload my head with a whole bunch of things and not be ready to hit at that point.”
Singer limits damage
Just as in the second inning, the Tigers responded to a Royals surge, following K.C’s a two-run fourth by making things difficult for Singer in the fifth.
Ramos and Baddoo posted a single and double, respectively, to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Grossman struck out, but Harold Castro provided a one-out single to plate Ramos — trimming the deficit to one run. Candelario then struck out swinging and Cabrera grounded into a force out to end the inning, stranding Baddoo at third.
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Singer returned for the sixth and completed it in 12 pitches. A one-out walk in the seventh inning to Baddoo brought on Barlow, who loaded the bases but struck out Candelario and Cabrera.
The 24-year-old Singer finished with three runs allowed on six hits and two walks across 6⅓ frames. He threw 58 of his 96 pitches for strikes and stuck out six batters.
Most importantly, Singer kept the Tigers from taking a lead while he was on the mound. In four of his seven innings — the first, third, fourth and sixth — he sent his opponents down in order.
Evan Petzold is a sports reporter at the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.