Once again, the Detroit Tigers did not swing the bats well in this one. The makeshift pitching combination didn’t actually do that badly, but they aren’t scoring any runs, and they watched another player go down with a potential injury as Kerry Carpenter left the game after crashing into the wall on a play in the first inning that cost the Tigers a run defensively. No one is feeling sorry for them, and several guys are going to need to step up or they’re going to be fully cooked by the time they get
any help back from the injured list.
Once again, things did not start off very well. Michael Wacha went through the order 1-2-3 in the top of the first. Opener Burch Smith saw Maikel Garcia line one into the left center field gap and outhustle Matt Vierling’s play on the ball into a double. Bobby Witt Jr. sliced a ball down the right field line and Kerry Carpenter overplayed it, banging into the wall while the ball rattled away into the corner. Witt Jr. sped around the bases with a two-run inside the park home run, which was a bit of home cooking from the official scorer, but whatever. Vinnie Pasquantino followed with a single, and a big, bad inning was already looming three batters in. Smith popped up Salvador Perez, but the plan was blown up from the start, and AJ Hinch came out to turn things over to Tyler Holton.
Carter Jensen got into a 1-1 count and then lined a drive down the left field line for a double, moving Pasquantino to third. Fortunately, with the infield in, Jac Caglianone grounded one to McKinstry, who checked Pasquantino for a moment and flipped to first. Jensen didn’t get the memo and ran on contact from second and was picked off as Torkelson threw to McGonigle at second. That left Pasquantino no choice but to run home with two outs and try to induce some chaos. Instead, Kevin McGonigle fired home to Jake Rogers to apply the tag and end what could’ve been a really bad inning. 2-0 Royals.
Wacha punched out Riley Greene to start the second inning, and Dillon Dingler got a first pitch sinker and flew out to right field. Kerry Carpenter chopped a bouncer to Michael Massey at second, but he had to try and rush it and instead failed to catch the baseball, and so far this was a pretty messy game on both sides. Wacha stayed away from Spencer Torkelson into a 3-0 count, then fired a fastball down the middle that Tork hit about 450 feet foul to left. Another sinker on the outer edge got a whiff, and once again the Tigers couldn’t make an opponent pay for their mistakes the way opponents are routinely doing to the Tigers right now.
Holton quickly retired Lane Thomas and Massey on weak contact in the bottom of the second, and Kyle Isbel grounded out to McKinstry to end the inning.
Now it was the Royals who couldn’t play the field, as McKinstry grounded one to Pasquantino and he just booted it. The official scorer decided it was an error, but it gave the Tigers the leadoff man in the inning on base, and McKinstry promptly stole second without a throw. Jake Rogers was looking for something he could poke to right field behind the runner, but in a 2-2 count Wacha smelled this out and painted the inside corner for strike three. McGonigle drove a ball out to Caglianone at the warning track, and McKinstry tagged and took third. Vierling grounded out to Massey and McKinstry was stranded.
Carpenter came out of the game at this point, presumably from the collision, and Wenceel Pérez took over in right field. Is it Ben Malgeri time? Can Zack Short play right field? These are questions that couldn’t be avoided because everything sucks right now.
Ty Madden’s turn as the “bulk” guy, which isn’t exactly a friendly descriptor, began in the bottom of the third. Maikel Garcia pulled a chopper that Colt Keith had to jump and pull it down, and then uncorked a somewhat wild throw to first. Torkelson had to take his foot off the bag to catch it, but Garcia wasn’t exactly busting it down the line thinking he’d made an out, and so he did make an out. Witt pulled a sharp grounder that took a weird kick and McGonigle clanged it off the backhand into a single. Madden picked off Witt, who blew a tire trying to get back, so that play didn’t hurt the Tigers. Pasquantino grounded out to McGonigle to end a very peculiar first three innings of baseball.
Avert your eyes, children, this baseball is unclean. Anyway, Keith struck out, Greene popped out, and Dingler grounded out in the fourth.
Madden was off to a solid start, and opened the bottom of the fourth by whiffing Sal Perez on a slider. He got a little wild against the left-handed hitting Jensen, missing a bit with several cutters and walking him. He fell behind against Caglionone as well, and the big right fielder got a fastball and pulled a grounder into right field as Jensen went first to third. In a 3-2 count against Lane Thomas, Madden fired a heater right down the middle and Thomas was late on 93 mph. So, there were two outs, and escape was at hand if Madden could get Massey, but left-handers have always been a problem for Madden. A first pitch cutter up was a strike. The second pitch cutter up in the zone was launched to right center field for a three-run bomb. Isbel grounded out to end the inning, but it was 5-0 Royals.
Wenceel Pérez flew out to right field to open the fifth, but Spencer Torkelson doubled to left and then took third on a wild pitch to Zach McKinstry. The infielder walked, but Jake Rogers lifted a shallow fly to right that wasn’t deep enough for Torkelson to score on. So, it was up to McGonigle. Wacha got ahead 0-2 with the help of a good challenge by Jensen on the first pitch of the AB, but Wacha pulled a cutter and hit McGonigle in the arm to load the bases. Vierling watched a 1-0 sinker just below the magnetic center of the strike zone, and then a swung at a changeup almost in the dirt and grounded out weakly to Witt to end the inning.
Madden came back out and walked Garcia to start the bottom half, bringing up the heart of the Royals order with the leadoff man on. That’s not a good idea, but Witt ulimately popped out to McKinstry. Jake Rogers then cut down Garcia trying to steal on a perfect throw to McGonigle. Caglianone whiffed on a cutter, and Madden had walked the tightrope.
Colt Keith opened the sixth with a pop-out. Riley Greene walked but Dingler tapped one back to Wacha for the second out as Riley moved to second. That left it to Pérez, who took a changeup on the top rail for strike three.
Madden punched out Sal Perez on a slider down and away to start the bottom half. Jensen hit a little dying quail into left field but Keith made a nice play running out there and snaring it over the shoulder before it got down. Caglianone whiffed on a slider to strike out, and we were on to the seventh, still 5-0 Royals.
The Tigers went in order without a hard hit ball in the top of the seventh as Wacha continued to cruise through them with absolute ease.
Madden got flyouts from Thomas and Massey in the bottom of the seventh. Isbel lined one back to Madden off the end of the bat and he snared it for the final out. Five decent innings from Ty Madden. He lost his command for a while in the fourth and fifth, wasting some counts where he was ahead, and he paid for it with Massey’s three-run shot, but for the most part he did depth starter things and was fine. Rogers did a really nice job leading him through it.
On the other hand, the offense is absolutely DOA right now. Losing Carpenter wouldn’t necessarily hurt much because he’s been pretty poor this year, but the Tigers don’t exactly have a stockpile of outfielders left to draw from with Parker Meadows and Javier Báez already injured.
Lefty Matt Strahm succeeded Wacha in the eighth, and McGonigle flicked a sinker the opposite way for a single to start the inning. Vierling worked into a full count and then chased a slider well down for strike three. Hao-Yu Lee hit for Colt Keith as Hinch searched for someone other than McGonigle, Greene, and Torkelson who can hit right now. Lee flew out to right field, and that left it up to Greene. The Tigers left fielder drove a ball to right field and Caglianone laid out for it and missed. McGonigle raced first to home, while Greene cruised into second with a double. 5-1 Royals. That was all they’d get as Dingler lifted a routine fly ball to Caglianone.
Madden kept going in the bottom of the eighth. Garcia flicked a soft liner to third base that Lee handled. McGonigle handled a slow grounder from Witt Jr. and did a nice job charging it and getting the ball to first quickly for the second out. Pasquantino grounded out to Torkelson to end the inning, making that 11 straight retired by Madden.
Hard throwing Steven Cruz came on to close this one out. Pérez grounded out, Torkelson took a slider for strike three, and McKinstry struck out as well to end it.
The Tigers are now 18-22 at the 40-game mark, as the Royals take command of second place in the AL Central. With the White Sox leading the Mariners as of this writing, the Tigers could be in fourth place just ahead of the Twins by the time the night is over.
