With no outs in the ninth inning, the Royals down 5-3, Kyle Isbel singled to lead off, bringing back the top of the order. Mike Yastrzemski, who hit ANOTHER leadoff homer in the first inning, was up to bat as the tying run. The crowd was pretty loud. The stage was set for a dramatic comeback.
Yaz took three pitches to work the count to 3-0, and it felt like the Tigers pitcher, Will Vest, did not want any part of him, even with Bobby Witt Jr up next. Yaz had the platoon advantage I guess. But, in typical
pitcher fashion, Vest did throw a strike on the 3-0 count. It was a middle-inside fastball, the kind of pitch that lefties usually can’t resist. Yaz put a swing on it. Maybe it was a bad idea to swing, I don’t know, but it was a pretty juicy-looking pitch.
Unfortunately, the results were deflating. He rolled it over to the second baseman, and the Tigers easily turned a double play. Witt flew out to end the game.
It was a missed opportunity. With the top of the lineup and no outs with a man on, that’s exactly the best situation the Royals could have hoped for in the ninth for a comeback win. They just fell short.
The game started well, though. At least on offense.
On literally the first pitch against the Royals, Yaz hit that aforementioned dinger just short of the fountains in right-center field. Witt singled, Vinnie lined out, bringing up Maikel Garcia. He took a high slider deep into the visitors’ bullpen for a 3-0 lead. Unfortunately, that was the only scoring offense the team could muster. They threatened to score a couple more times, most notably in the seventh inning after a leadoff double from Yaz, but just could not bring the baserunners home.
Lugo, once again, did not look his best. In the first inning, he managed to work around two walks and a single without allowing any runs. But then the Tigers plated two runs on four singles in the top of the second. Lugo walked two more in the third. He was pulled in the fourth after allowing three hits and another two runs, which put the Tigers in the lead.
Lugo’s line was just 3.1 innings, eight hits, four runs, four walks, and five strikeouts. I had felt like Lugo was due for some regression to the mean this season, as he was walking a bit more of a tightrope, but this feels like more than that. At this point, I expect Lugo to land on the IL for some malady. Lugo has made six starts in the month of August, and he’s made it through five complete innings only once. He’s walking a LOT of guys. I do not know who would replace him in the rotation, but it’s gotta be done.
Jonathan Bowlan and Angel Zerpa locked down a few more innings after him, and Taylor Clarke pitched well overall but did give up a home run to Dillon Dingler in the eighth.
Regardless of the poor offensive showing after the first inning, and regardless of Lugo’s poor start, the Royals still had a chance to tie or win in the ninth. Their inability to bring in runners in scoring position killed them this game, very much like their offense in the early season.
The Royals drop to 69-66. Cleveland beat Seattle. The Pirates beat the Red Sox. This was a prime opportunity to gain ground in the playoff race. They have to be better than this to make it to the postseason.
Tomorrow is another day. The Royals and Tigers will play again on Saturday at 6:15pm US Central.
