Tigers 16, @Royals 4 (Thurs.) ? Payback ?
Tigers 2, @Royals 1 (Fri.) ? ? lived up to ?
Tigers 5, @Royals 1 (Sat.) ? its reputation. Since KC took those three in Motown to snatch first place, they?ve gone 8-14, and the Tigers 17-5 in building a season-high 7.5-game lead.
If the opening beat-down was painful to the Royals, the next two were excruciating. Friday, KC out-hit Detroit by 11-5, but gave away the lead run on Danny Duffy?s pickoff error. Seven Royals in the last three frames alone might have tied the game with just a single. Six of them made contact, the team?s specialty. But nothing would fall, and so the Royals did ? to 3-8 against Detroit this year, half those defeats by one run. Their 10-18 one-run record represents the most AL losses, and MLB?s worst percentage.
Saturday started much the same. Detroit scratched two-out runs off James Shields in the 3rd and 4th, while KC?s first two threats melted into two more DP grounders for Rick Porcello. Shields held the line through seven, but another Royals rumbling died with bags full in the 5th. A sac fly in the 6th filled half the hole, but the last 11 Royals went down in order, while the Bengals bombed two in the 9th to pull away.
KC batters, who totaled 2 walks and 9 strikeouts Friday & Saturday, represent the pros and cons of an emphasis on contact hitting. They have MLB?s lowest totals of whiffs and walks, and (as you?d guess) the AL?s lowest average pitches per PA. Attacking early helps put balls in play, hence their .265 BA (4th in AL). But they?re dead last in bases per hit, 9% below the AL average. On PAs settled early (0-0, 1-0, 0-1 and 1-1), KC?s bases per hit is 15% below the other AL clubs. Working counts does play a role in power hitting.
In Thursday?s opener, Miguel Cabrera?s 2-run double in the 4th broke Detroit?s string of 34 straight scoring singletons. Their prior two-run event was a Victor Martinez homer in the 1st inning last Thursday.
Torii Hunter and Nick Castellanos each had two hits in the 8-run 5th.
Eric Hosmer?s homer with two out in the 7th foiled Drew Smyly?s bid to go five-for-five in starts of 6+ IP and 2 runs or less against the Royals. Against all other teams, he?s 9 of 28.
Poll: Who?s the top random overachiever of the first half: Steve Pearce, J.D. Martinez, or someone else?
HighHeatStats