kansas city royals

The Tigers got some clutch hitting tonight and some good pitching to win their 90th game of the season. Victor Martinez batted cleanup tonight as Miguel Cabrera got the night off. Martinez drove home three of the the Tigers' 6 runs to keep Detroit in the game through the middle innings. In the 8th the Tigers took the lead for good when Cabrera came off the bench to pinch-hit and lined the first pitch he saw down the right-field line for an RBI double to make the score 4-3 Tigers. Don Kelly would put the exclamation point on this rally with a two-run homer and the Tigers led 6-3.

Read More

Brad Penny needed to have a good outing to pitch his way into consideration for being a part of the Tiger postseason rotation. Tonight's effort didn't help him at all. Penny gave up a leadoff homer to Alex Gordon and the Tigers were on the receiving end of a good old-fashioned butt-kicking by the pesky Kansas City Royals. Rookie first baseman Eric Hosmer was 5 for 5 with a 3-run homer (he has 4 in his last 3 games against Detroit and is 11 of 12 in those games). Maybe we ought to think about pitching around this guy.

Read More

Tiger pitching has been questionable at best on days when Justin Verlander and lately, Doug Fister aren't on the mound. Tiger prospect Jacob Turner got a spot start in this afternoon's game agains the Royals, and the 20-year old demonstrated that he still has much to learn. Turner lasted just 4 and a third innings, giving up 6 runs. His teammates would pick him up and he wouldn't take the loss.

Read More

Rick Porcello put two pitches in the wheelhouse of Kansas City rookie first baseman Eric Hosmer, and Hosmer put both of them deep into the right field seats. Note to Porcello: Don't pitch to that guy anymore. Porcello was hit hard by many of the other Royals hitters today, but left the game trailing only 4-2 after 7 innings.

Read More

Ramon Santiago wasn't supposed to be the hero of tonight's game. Tiger starting pitcher Doug Fister mowed down the first 18 Kansas City hitters without anybody reaching base. Fister would get into some trouble in the 7th, but the Royals would only score one run. Unfortunately, the Tigers were still being shut out at that point and found themselves trailing 1-0. The Tigers finally tied the game in the 8th on a clutch 2-out hit by Magglio Ordonez.

Read More

This one started out badly for Tiger pitcher Max Scherzer and then went downhill. Alex Gordon of the Royals led off the game with a homer and Kansas City would put runs on the board in 5 of the first 6 innings. Scherzer didn't make it out of the 4th inning and had already given up 7 runs to the Royals.

Read More

All three games between the Tigers and Royals in this three-game series ended with a 4-3 score. Detroit won the first two, and were making a sixth inning comeback when Mother Nature intervened. The Tigers had rallied and scored twice in the sixth and had a runner in scoring position when the wind and rain caused the umpires to call out the ground crews to put the tarp on the field.

Read More

On the very first pitch of the game, Alex Gordon of the Royals blasted a Justin Verlander fastball deep into centerfield. The fence at Kaufman Stadium is 410 in dead center. This one went 411, into the glove of Austin Jackson who leaped and pulled it back for a long out. That play set the tone for today's game. Kansas City would come close, but victory would be snatched away from them by the Tigers.

Read More

Rick Porcello was cruising toward his 12th win of the season, and left the game in the 7th with a 3-1 lead and two runners on. Phil Coke was summoned from the bullpen to get out the left-handed hitting Mike Moustakas who was hitting .071 against lefties this season. Naturally, Coke hung a curveball which Moustakas lined into right for an RBI single. The Royals would score three in the 7th and tie the game at 3-3.

Read More

The gametime temperature in Kansas City was a humid 95 degrees.  The only thing hotter was Tiger ace Justin Verlander, who threw 7 2/3rds innings only giving up one unearned run.  Verlander picks up his 12th win of the season before the All-Star break.  The last Tiger pitcher to do that was Jack Morris in 1987. 

Read More

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. 

Read More

Just like last night, this one came down to the very last batter.  Magglio Ordonez continued his hot hitting since coming back from the DL by blasting a two-run homer in the first inning to put the Tigers in the  lead.  They would stay there despite closer Jose Valverde's best effort to give all Tiger fans a coronary. 

Read More