Brant Hurter impresses as reliever in MLB debut, but Detroit Tigers lose, 3-2, to Royals

It wasn’t a start, but it was an MLB debut to remember for Detroit Tigers left-hander Brant Hurter.

The 25-year-old, a starter who had a 5.80 ERA across 71⅓ innings in Triple-A Toledo, joined the Tigers’ 11-man bullpen as a bulk reliever. He appeared in his first game Sunday against the Kansas City Royals, completing three scoreless innings with three strikeouts.

Hurter impressed, but a bad pitch from a different reliever resulted in the Tigers losing to the Royals, 3-2, in Sunday’s finale of four games to drop the series at Comerica Park.

“Tough loss because we were in position to win,” manager A.J. Hinch said, “and we had the avenues to get to the finish line. That’s a gut punch.”

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Right-handed reliever Shelby Miller, a 12-year veteran, surrendered a three-run home run with two outs in the ninth inning. He hung a first-pitch splitter to pinch-hitter MJ Melendez, who drove the ball over the wall in right field.

“They’re going to unleash all those lefties at any point,” Hinch said. “Shelby has given up eight hits to lefties on the year coming into that inning. Two two-strike hits, and then a bad split to a hitter that can hit the ball out of the ballpark, and it changes the whole landscape of the game.”

The Tigers (53-60) have lost 10 of their past 14 games.

Hurter handled the fifth, sixth and seventh innings against the Royals without issuing a walk while working around two hits, throwing 26 of 36 pitches for strikes. He generated six whiffs on 19 swings with one sinker, two sweepers and three fastballs.

His three scoreless innings protected the Tigers’ slim lead.

“The big thing with me is my balls move all which ways,” Hurter said. “Throwing strikes and getting ahead is the big thing. I’ll get soft contact if I do that. If they’re able to spit on certain pitches, I’m a lot less successful.”

Hurter allowed singles to Vinnie Pasquantino and Hunter Renfroe in the sixth inning, but he escaped trouble by striking out Paul DeJong swinging with an up-and-in 92.9 mph four-seam fastball.

Before that, Hurter — who is still learning to command his changeup to right-handed hitters — struck out Salvador Pérez for the first strikeout of his MLB career. He fanned the veteran catcher, a nine-time All-Star in his 13-year career, with a down-and-away sweeper for the second out in the sixth inning.

“It was super cool,” Hurter said. “I think I threw a sinker away that he chased, so I threw a slider off that and was able to get the swing and miss. That was a really cool moment for me.”

Hurter also struck out Dairon Blanco looking with a sweeper to complete his three-inning relief appearance.

“Brant was great,” catcher Dillon Dingler said. “He was controlling the zone really, really well with pretty much every shape that he had. I was super happy for him. He had some great innings out of the bullpen there. I know he’s probably floating right now. I’m really looking forward to what he can do moving forward.”

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The Tigers removed Hurter — in favor of right-handed reliever Will Vest — before he could have a second matchup with the top of the Royals’ batting order, anchored by superstar Bobby Witt Jr., in the eighth inning.

Vest did his job, but Miller didn’t take care of his business.

In the ninth inning, Miller allowed a leadoff single to Renfroe and a one-out single to Freddy Fermin. The Royals ended up with runners on the corners and two outs. Melendez stepped to the plate as a pinch-hitter, representing the go-ahead run, then crushed a three-run home run.

After the homer, Miller owns a 5.85 ERA in 40 innings this season.

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Quality plate appearances

The Tigers scored one run in the second inning and one run in the fifth inning.

Zach McKinstry sparked the second-inning run with a two-out triple on a first-pitch fastball from right-hander Michael Wacha. Dingler, a rookie catcher playing in his third game, worked a four-pitch walk to extend the inning. With runners on the corners, Gio Urshela hit a down-and-away cutter for a ground-ball single into left field, which scored McKinstry from third base for a 1-0 lead.

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A leadoff walk from Javier Báez sparked the fifth-inning run. He advanced to third on Colt Keith’s one-out single, and then he scored on Matt Vierling’s sacrifice fly to right field, taking a 2-0 lead.

The Tigers then loaded the bases with an ensuing single from Justyn-Henry Malloy and a walk by Bligh Madris, but McKinstry grounded out to strand the runners.

There was also an opportunity to extend the lead in the sixth inning, with runners on the corners for Wenceel Pérez, but Pérez grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Wacha allowed two runs on seven hits and four walks with two strikeouts across six innings, throwing 99 pitches. The Tigers had quality plate appearances throughout those six innings but failed to get the big swing to put up a crooked number on the scoreboard.

Two relievers before Hurter

The Tigers didn’t bring Hurter into the game until the fifth inning, even though he has worked as a starting pitcher throughout his career in the minor leagues.

“He attacked the strike zone with his best stuff,” Hinch said of Hurter. “He used all of this pitches, which was great. He can fall in the trap of falling in love with the sinker to get the ball on the ground because when it does, you want more of the same. … I though the handled the emotions of today extremely well.”

Instead, the Tigers started right-handed reliever Alex Faedo.

The combination of Faedo and right-handed reliever Brenan Hanifee completed the first four innings. Faedo covered 1⅔ scoreless innings, working around two hits and one walk with three strikeouts; Hanifee covered 2⅓ scoreless innings with one strikeout.

Faedo owns a 3.69 ERA across 53⅔ innings this season.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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