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Detroit Tigers fall to Kansas City Royals, 8-0, after allowing seven runs in ninth inning
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- Detroit Tigers fall to Kansas City Royals, 8-0, after allowing seven runs in ninth inning
In the third inning Friday, Parker Meadows hit a high fly ball to right field.
Kansas City 's Adam Frazier , a second baseman making his first start in right field this season, tracked the 344-foot fly ball to the wall, directly between the Modelo and Little Caesars advertisements. He leaped at the wall, stuck his glove beyond the field of play and caught the ball, robbing Meadows of a two-run home run.
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Even worse for the Detroit Tigers ? After the catch, Frazier threw the ball to first base and doubled up Javier Báez for an inning-ending double play.
Instead of a 2-1 lead, the Tigers returned to the dugout hitless and trailing.
Right fielder Adam Frazier of the Kansas City Royals makes a leaping catch to steal a home run from Parker Meadows of the Detroit Tigers during the third inning at Comerica Park on April 26, 2024 in Detroit.
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They eventually picked up a hit — Mark Canha singled in the fourth — but the no runs as the Tigers lost, 8-0, to the Royals in Friday's opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park, with the Royals scoring seven runs in the ninth inning. Right-hander Reese Olson allowed just one run across seven innings with eight strikeouts, but he didn't get any run support from the offense.
The Tigers (14-12) were shut down by Royals right-hander Seth Lugo .
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Lugo, an ex-reliever whom the Tigers expressed some interest in as a free agent over the past two years, racked up a career-high nine strikeouts.
He allowed three hits: Canha's single and Spencer Torkelson 's infield single in the fourth inning and Matt Vierling 's single in the seventh inning. He also issued just two walks: to Báez in the third inning and Colt Keith in the seventh inning.
Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo (67) throws in the first inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, April 26, 2024.
The Tigers had two on and two out for Báez in the seventh inning, but he popped out to end the threat.
Lugo, a nine-year MLB veteran, mixed eight different pitches, throwing a four-seam fastball, sinker, curveball, slider, slurve, changeup, sweeper and cutter. He threw 65 of his 103 pitches for strikes. The 34-year-old struck out four of the first five batters he faced, plus he had two strikeouts against both Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter , the Tigers' best left-handed hitters.
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The robbery of Meadows in the third inning made the difference, at least until the ninth inning.
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Late-inning struggles
Royals right-handed reliever John Schreiber , a southeast Michigan native who pitched for the Tigers in 2019-20, replaced Lugo for the eighth inning. He sent down the first two batters before Greene reached safely on a throwing error by the third baseman.
Canha followed with a single.
Spencer Torkelson stepped to the plate with runners on first and second base with two outs, but he struck out swinging to strand the runners. He whiffed at a middle-middle sweeper for the first strike, fouled a middle-down fastball for the second strike and chased a down-and-away sweeper for the third strike.
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The fans at Comerica Park booed Torkelson after the strikeout for squandering the big opportunity in the eighth.
The Royals increased their lead to 3-0 in the ninth inning, when left-handed reliever Tyler Holton — known for throwing strikes — hit back-to-back batters with the bases loaded. He plunked Frazier and Kyle Isbel , both with up-and-in sinkers, after a pair of singles followed by a walk.
The fans, once again, booed during Holton's walk back to the dugout after being removed from the game. His replacement, right-handed reliever Will Vest , immediately gave up a two-run single that pushed the Royals' lead to 5-0.
Bobby Witt Jr. drove in another two runs with a triple to right-center field, making it 7-0. It could've been an inside-the-park home run because the ball got past Carpenter's reach in right-center field, but Witt was held up at third base. He then scored on a sacrifice fly for an 8-0 advantage.
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Five runs were charged to Holton; two runs were charged to Vest.
Reese's peace
In his fifth start this season, Olson completed seven innings to keep the game close.
The 24-year-old, who lowered his ERA to 3.18 in his second season, allowed just one run on three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts, throwing 62 of 100 pitches for strikes. The lone run scored on a sacrifice fly in the third inning.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Reese Olson (45) throws in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park in Detroit on Friday, April 26, 2024.
The Royals loaded the bases with Frazier's single, Isbel's single and Maikel Garcia 's walk. After that, Witt hit Olson's inside sinker 309 feet to center field, deep enough for Frazier to tag up and score for a 1-0 lead
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Olson kept the Royals in check throughout the rest of his outing, and he finished strong by retiring the final four batters he faced. He sent down three of those batters with strikeouts, all on changeups: Michael Massey (called strike) in the sixth inning and Frazier (called strike) and Isbel (swinging strike) to end the seventh.
He generated 13 whiffs on 45 swings with three fastballs, four sliders and six changeups. He also landed his fastball and slider for called strikes.
His fastball averaged 93.6 mph.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold .
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers stymied by Kansas City Royals, 8-0
