Tiger pitching wasn't good today.  Tiger defense was worse.  Two Tiger errors led to 8 unearned runs for Kansas City, and the Royals stomped the Tigers 13-6. 

Ramon Santiago is known as "Pac-Man" because he gobbles everything up.  A ground ball that would have been the 3rd out in the 3rd inning ate him up and the Royals scored 5 times after his miscue.  To their credit, the Tigers clawed their way back into the game by scoring 4 times in the 4th to get to within 3 runs of the lead with plenty of innings left.  In the 6th inning, Ryan Raburn dropped a pop-up that led to 3 more unearned runs for the Royals.  There was no coming back after that. 

A really bad loss for the Tigers for a couple of reasons.  First, they gave this game away.  Secondly, the Tigers missed an opportunity to take over first place in the American League Central as Cleveland lost to Toronto in extra innings. 

The Tigers will try to win this series against Kansas City tomorrow afternoon at Kaufman Stadium.  Justin Verlander will try again for his 12 win of the season after losing a 1-0 game in Los Angeles.  First pitch at 2:10.  Then it's four days off for the All-Star break.  5 Tigers will be on the All-Star team:  Justin Verlander (he won't pitch, but will be there), Jose Valverde, Alex Avila, Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta.  After the break, it's two and a half months of tough games against mainly AL Central division opponents.  It's time the Tigers elevate their game, or they'll be watching the postseason on tv like the rest of us.

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