Tigers cough up lead in ninth, fall to Royals in series finale

Detroit — In baseball, victory can always be given or taken away with one swing. During a season, a team can go through being on both sides of this situation multiple times.

For the Tigers, they found themselves on both sides within 24 hours. After snatching victory Saturday night with a walk-off hit, they watched as one swing turned the tides against them.

The Tigers allowed a two-out three-run homer in the top of the ninth, leaving Comerica Park on Sunday with a 3-2 loss to the Royals in their last game before a six-game road trip.

BOX SCORE: Royals 3, Tigers 2

MLB STANDINGS

It was MJ Melendez who left a hero for Kansas City, as his 362-foot home run to right field off reliever Shelby Miller gave the Royals the lead. Now the Tigers (53-60) leave home going 2-7 on the homestand, heading out to Seattle on Tuesday.

“We got to get on the plane, we’re going to head as far as you can go, get away and go to Seattle and we have a tough matchup there with elite pitching after the off-day,” Tigers manager AJ Hinch said.

Miller was kept in the game even as Jason Foley was warming up in the bullpen, but Hinch said he wanted Miller to go through one more batter before bringing in Foley because he liked the matchup Miller had against the lefty Melendez. But the strategy doesn’t always goes as planned.

“Today’s emotion is obviously disappointment because if he pops that ball up, if he rolls over to first, if he swings and misses and the at-bat continues and we get him out,” Hinch said, “this is a completely different outcome, we’re getting on the plane with completely different happiness. It’s part of the game.”

Today wasn’t just about how the game ended for the Tigers. It was the major-league debut for Brant Hurter, who pitched three shutout innings with three strikeouts while allowing only two hits. Hurter pitched the longest out of any reliever Sunday, as the Tigers went to the bullpen, giving their starters an extra day of rest before the long road trip.

Hurter, combined with starter Alex Faedo and relievers Brenan Hanifee and Will Vest, pitched eight innings of shutout baseball against the Royals, allowing five hits with eight total strikeouts.

The final frame wasn’t the only opportunity for Kansas City (63-50), as it had a chance in the top of the sixth with two outs as Hunter Renfroe and Vinnie Pasquantino sat on first and second, respectively. But Hurter kept his cool, and left Paul DeJong striking out in just three pitches to keep the Royals scoreless.

Hurter’s fellow rookie teammates, such as Dillon Dingler and Justyn-Henry Malloy, knew what this moment meant for him.

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

Hurter and Henry-Malloy were teammates at Georgia Tech, so the young outfielder had more to say about his former and now current teammate, with both of them making the big leagues within two months of each other.

“I’m so happy that he’s here; he’s worked so hard and overcoming the injuries that he’s had in college, and for him to just be the same bulldog that I got to see in the ACC,” Henry-Malloy said. “It’s a true testament to him and him just being a bulldog, taking the ball and doing what he’s loved to do his entire life, and just doing what he’s always been good at.”

“I thought he handled the emotions of today extremely well; there’s only one first day and making him wait was probably emotional for him, but the minute he started to warm up, I heard his family yelling behind home plate,” Hinch said.  “All that is really awesome, the loss is gonna overshadow the joy that kid should feel about being a big leaguer.”

Although the score doesn’t show it, this ended up being a difficult start for Royals pitcher Michael Wacha, who gave up seven hits and two earned runs in six innings of work. More damage could’ve been done from the Tiger bats, like when the bases were loaded with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, but Zack McKinstry grounded out and couldn’t extend the lead.

“It shouldn’t have been 2-0; we had opportunities,” Hinch said. “Whether the two-out hit, you can never bank on, but we had ’em with the bases loaded and couldn’t quite find that outfield grass, and the first-and-third double plays. (Wacha) came up with big pitches, and it looked like he was right on the edge both in the strike zone but just in the game of it turning our way and us separating a little bit.”

“It’s going to happen against us, and it’s going to happen for us,” Henry-Malloy said about losing the close game. “Just taking it with a grain of salt, going into the next day and just being positive and coming back in and trying to win another ball game the next day.”

Kameron Goodwill is a freelance writer.