MLB

Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals

· Major League Baseball
Detroit Tigers
80-73, 41-37 Away
Final
4 - 2
Kansas City Royals
82-71, 45-33 Home

Skubal strengthens case for AL Cy Young as playoff-chasing Tigers sweep Royals

Riley Greene hit a go-ahead home run as the Tigers (80-73) won their fourth straight and ninth in the last 11 games. With the series sweep, Detroit won for the 25th time in 35 games to move within a half game of Minnesota (80-72) for the third AL wild-card spot.

“These guys, first of all we believe, and second we come every day to try to win the game, and we are winning a lot, which is fun to watch these guys learn and grow and compete until the end of the game,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said.

Skubal (17-4), who has won his last five decisions, made his case for the AL Cy Young Award stronger by matching Atlanta’s Chris Sale for the major league lead in wins and lowered his AL-leading earned run average to 2.48. He walked one and struck out seven.

“Really proud of the guys. Last time we came here we were on the other side of the sweep,” Skubal said. “We’ve got a great group, a resilient group. I mean if you just look at the season that we’ve had, I think it shows in this series.”

Skubal had struggled against the Royals in the past, entering Wednesday with a 2-9 record and 5.05 ERA in 12 starts over 14 appearances. After allowing three hits and Yuli Gurriel’s two-out RBI single in the first inning, he threw four hitless innings.

“We put some good at-bats on him early, but once he got the runs, five of the next six hitters were 0-2 counts. He’s coming after us,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said of Skubal. “But that’s how he pitches. He’s not picking at the corners. He’s got elite stuff and he knows it.”

Skubal screamed after striking out Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez with two on for his final out in the fifth.

“For me it’s always about executing pitches,” Skubal said. “If I can execute pitches at a high clip, I like my chances against anybody, no matter how many times they’ve seen me."

Hinch was happy to see his ace battle through 95 pitches though he wasn’t as sharp as his previous starts.

“It was a big fight for him, but he did a great job,” Hinch said. “Sometimes five is enough, and he did his job by getting the biggest out against his biggest nemesis and showed a ton of emotion. ... If he somehow isn’t able to make pitches to Salvy, who has been good against him, this game’s completely different. He’s our guy. We needed our guy to do his part, and he did."

The Royals (82-71), who lost their fourth straight, were swept for the first time at home this season and the third time overall. They remained 2 1/2 games behind Baltimore for the first wild-card spot and 1 1/2 games ahead of Minnesota for the second wild card. The Orioles and Twins both lost earlier Wednesday.

Skubal struck out major league batting leader Bobby Witt Jr. twice before hitting him with a pitch in the fifth. Witt, who became the first player in major league history with multiple seasons of 30 home runs and 30 steals in his first three seasons Tuesday, broke Hal McRae’s 1977 franchise record with his 87th extra-base hit of the season with a bloop double to lead off the eighth.

Perez then drove in Witt with a single off reliever Brenan Hanifee. Sean Guenther preserved the 4-2 lead with a double play and a fly out. Guenther got the first out of the ninth and Will Vest got the final two for his second save.

Royals starter Alec Marsh (8-9), coming off a career-high 11 strikeouts in his last start, lasted only 2 2/3 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks.

Perez and Gurriel, who is hitting .385 since the Royals acquired him from Atlanta, each had two hits for the Royals.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: Rookie 3B Colt Keith is day to day after reinjuring his right shoulder in Tuesday’s game on a diving attempt in the field. He has had a right shoulder problem in three straight seasons. He did not play Wednesday, but Hinch said he would hit in the batting cage during the game. “It could have been much worse,” Hinch said.

UP NEXT

Tigers: Detroit has not announced a starter for Friday’s series opener at Baltimore.

Royals: RHP Michael Wacha (13-7, 3.29) is scheduled to start Friday’s home series opener against San Francisco. Wacha is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in nine career starts against the Giants and 7-2 with a 2.87 ERA this season at home.

How can I watch Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals?
  • TV Channel: Tigers at Royals 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Royals: 41.7%
Tigers: 58.3%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Isbel struck out looking.
9th Inning DeJong popped out to second.
9th Inning Vest relieved Guenther
9th Inning Massey lined out to first.
9th Inning Torkelson struck out swinging.
9th Inning Greene grounded into double play, second to shortstop to first, Pérez out at second, Vierling to third.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/det.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originDET https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/kc.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originKC
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 1
10 Ground Balls 11
13 Strikeouts 11
3 Runs Batted In 2
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
7 Hits 7
0 Stolen Bases 0
6 Walks 2
0 Catcher Interference 0
4 Runs 2
1 Ground Into Double Play 2
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
34 At Bats 33
1 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
24 Runners Left On Base 15
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 1
11 Fly Balls 11
0 Caught Stealing 0
162 Pitches 146
0 Games Started 0
2 Pinch At Bats 3
0 Pinch Hits 1
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 0
11 Total Bases 8
41 Plate Appearances 36
162.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
2 Extra Base Hits 1
4.0 Runs Created 1.5
.206 Batting Average .212
.000 Pinch Hit Average .333
.324 Slugging Percentage .242
.294 Secondary Average .091
.341 On Base Percentage .278
.665 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .520
0.9 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 1.0
3.8 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 1.5
26.0 Batter Rating 17.0
34.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.95 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.06
.118 Isolated Power .030
0.46 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.18
.146 Walks Per Plate Appearance .056
.088 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.121
7.0 Runs Produced 4.0
0.8 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.5 Patience Ratio 0.3
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.3
75.8 MLB Rating 69.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Kauffman Stadium

Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Attendance: 16,279 | Capacity:

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2
Full Standings