Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers

· Major League Baseball

Kansas City Royals

17-12, 5-7 Away

Final
1 - 4

Detroit Tigers

16-12, 6-8 Home

Wenceel Pérez hits a 2-run drive for 1st big league homer as the Tigers beat the Royals 4-1

“He hit one to the track last night,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I guess he did a couple extra pushups this morning.”

Jake Rogers also homered for the Tigers, who have won five of seven. It was Detroit's 10th come-from-behind win of the season.

The Royals have lost two in a row after a four-game winning streak.

“I don't think we drove a ball after the first inning until maybe the seventh,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “We couldn't square them up.”

Detroit left-hander Tarik Skubal (4-0) pitched seven innings of one-run ball.

“He gave up a seeing-eye double and a two-strike base hit in the first, but he got another gear after that,” Hinch said. “That's what you expect from a guy who is going to anchor your rotation.”

Skubal struck out six while improving to 2-7 with a 4.65 ERA in 12 career games against the Royals.

“We knew coming in it was going to be a challenge. He's one of the best pitchers in the league,” Quatraro said. “Upper-90s velocity, location, plus changeup, curveball — you name it.”

Jason Foley pitched the ninth for his ninth save.

Royals right-hander Michael Wacha (1-3) permitted four runs and nine hits in 5 2/3 innings.

Kansas City took a 1-0 lead on Bobby Witt Jr.'s RBI single in the first, but Pérez put Detroit in front with a drive to right in the bottom half.

“As soon as I hit it, I knew it was gone,” said Pérez, who is hitting .286 since making his major league debut on April 8. “And when we give (Skubal) a lead, the game is done. We know he's going to do the job.”

The Tigers made it 3-1 in the second when Rogers singled, took third on Parker Meadows' double and scored on Riley Greene's sacrifice fly.

Rogers added his second homer of the season in the sixth, and Skubal stranded runners on first and third in the seventh.

“We were probably a little fastball heavy early in the game, but then he was really dominant with the changeup,” said Rogers, who has caught all of Skubal's starts this season.

Kansas City's Salvador Perez walked in the ninth, extending his on-base streak to 18 games.

Royals: Start a three-game series Monday in Toronto. Kansas City is expected to call up RHP Jonathan Bowlan (2024 debut) from Triple-A Omaha to face RHP Yariel Rodriguez (0-1, 3.86 ERA).

Tigers: Start a three-game series Monday against St. Louis. RHP Kenta Maeda (0-1, 5.96 ERA) is scheduled to start against Cardinals LHP Steven Matz (1-2, 5.55 ERA).

How can I watch Kansas City Royals vs. Detroit Tigers?

TV Channel: Royals at Tigers 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Tigers: 63.1%

Royals: 36.9%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Blanco struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Melendez struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	Melendez hit for Renfroe
	9th Inning	Pasquantino grounded out to first, Massey to second, Perez to third.
	9th Inning	Pasquantino hit for Fermin
	9th Inning	Massey singled to right, Perez to second.

Statistics

KC		DET
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	1
8	Ground Balls	10
9	Strikeouts	5
1	Runs Batted In	4
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
5	Hits	10
0	Stolen Bases	0
2	Walks	1
0	Catcher Interference	0
1	Runs	4
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	1
32	At Bats	32
0	Home Runs	2
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
12	Runners Left On Base	12
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	2
15	Fly Balls	18
0	Caught Stealing	0
116	Pitches	126
0	Games Started	0
3	Pinch At Bats	0
1	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
6	Total Bases	18
34	Plate Appearances	35
0.0	Projected Home Runs	324.0
1	Extra Base Hits	4
0.7	Runs Created	6.3
.156	Batting Average	.313
.333	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.188	Slugging Percentage	.563
.094	Secondary Average	.281
.206	On Base Percentage	.343
.393	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.905
0.5	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.6
0.7	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	7.3
11.0	Batter Rating	36.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	16.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.41	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.60
.031	Isolated Power	.250
0.22	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.20
.059	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.029
-.063	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.031
2.0	Runs Produced	8.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.2	Patience Ratio	0.6
0.2	Balls In Play Average	0.3
63.5	MLB Rating	89.0
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0