KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Detroit Tigers right-handed reliever Jason Foley jogged from the bullpen to the mound for the bottom of the 10th inning against the Kansas City Royals in search of his 25th save, with the free runner on second base.

Foley was tasked with protecting a two-run advantage, facing the best hitters in the Royals’ lineup.

“I just told myself to attack the zone,” Foley said.

A successful save from Foley, who pitched for the third game in a row, completed the Tigers’ 3-1 win over the Royals on Tuesday in the second of three games in the series at Kauffman Stadium.

The Tigers (79-73) extended their winning streak to three games and continued their winning ways in pursuit of the third and final spot in the American League wild card.

They’ve won 24 of their last 34 games.

“We’re just going to keep doing our thing and playing our game,” said Parker Meadows, who drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th inning. “Show up every day, have fun, converse all day, play cards and just stay relaxed, be in the moment and keep up punching in big situations. This team is really good.”

With the win, the Tigers stayed 1½ games behind the Minnesota Twins in the wild-card race, which is actually 2½ games considering the tiebreaker, as the Twins beat the Cleveland Guardians in the second of four games in their series.

There are 10 games remaining in the regular season.

In the 10th inning, the Tigers grabbed a 2-1 lead on a one-out bloop single from Meadows, dropping a first-pitch changeup into shallow left field. The free runner in extra innings scored from third base, but the only reason the runner advanced to third base was because right-handed reliever Lucas Erceg balked.

“I’m going to start him tomorrow,” manager A.J. Hinch said in response to a reminder that the Tigers have a 42-23 record when Meadows starts. “It’s really remarkable. He’s been an impactful player on both sides, and he can still get a lot better. We’re excited that we feel like we can win with him.”

The Tigers padded their lead, 3-1, when Riley Greene hit a RBI single up the middle with two outs, scoring Meadows from second base. Meadows had moved up to second base because Erceg walked Matt Vierling on four pitches.

In the bottom of the 10th, Foley sent down Bobby Witt Jr. (groundout), Salvador Perez (flyout) and Michael Massey (flyout). His toughest assignment — that’s Witt — leads MLB with a .331 batting average in 152 games.

Foley needed just 11 pitches.

“He’s one of the best hitters in the league,” Foley said of the Witt matchup, “so just try to attack the zone and really focus on that first out and don’t be terribly concerned with the runner on second just because we had a little bit of a buffer. I just tried to get that first out.”

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Saving Casey Mize

Right-hander Casey Mize didn’t have his best command throughout his 20th start, but he particularly struggled in the fifth inning when he loaded the bases with one out, forcing an early exit.

The 27-year-old walked Witt and Perez, his final two batters. The Tigers then turned to right-handed reliever Shelby Miller, who induced an inning-ending double play on a first-pitch slider to Massey.

Thanks to Miller, Mize allowed just one run on six hits and four walks with three strikeouts across 4⅓ innings, throwing 89 pitches.

“We found a way,” Mize said. “I think that’s obviously the most important thing with what we’re trying to do right now. We won the game. It wasn’t pretty or perfect from my end, but I gave it everything I had with every pitch.”

There were some positive signs: His velocity was up on his four-seam fastball (plus-1.4 mph), slider (plus-2.8 mph) and splitter (plus-3 mph), and his slider generated four whiffs on nine swings. It was a step in the right direction, even though Mize had sub-par command.

In the third inning, Meadows completed an incredible running catch in center field to save Mize from another run. The running catch stranded two runners.

“It was a tough one,” said Meadows, who covered 75 feet with a sprint speed of 27.6 feet per second. “I got a pretty good jump. I didn’t think I got the best jump, but I was able to makeup for it. I kind of beat it to the spot, and I looked up at the last second, and I saw it was catchable.”

Mize has a 4.36 ERA in 20 starts.

Cooked by Cole Ragans

The Royals have the AL’s second-best left-handed starter in Cole Ragans, only because Tarik Skubal — the Tigers’ ace — is the undisputed best southpaw.

Facing the Tigers, Ragans allowed one run on four hits and four walks with six strikeouts across seven innings, throwing 105 pitches. The highlight of his 31st start was stranding two runners with back-to-back strikeouts of Trey Sweeney and Dillon Dingler in the fourth inning.

But the Tigers took a 1-0 lead within their first two batters, as Andy Ibáñez reached safely on a hit-by-pitch and Vierling followed by cranking a middle-middle cutter for an RBI double to left-center field.

After that, Ragans shut down the Tigers.

He has a 3.24 ERA in 31 starts.

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

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.

Five-star prospect Jalen Haralson, one of the top prospects in college basketball’s 2025 recruiting class, has reportedly canceled visits to Kansas and Missouri. He’s additionally moved up his official visit to Purdue to this coming weekend, per 247Sports.

So far this fall, Haralson has taken visits to Indiana, Notre Dame and Michigan State. He’s also made a visit to Auburn.

“I feel like whenever I have that gut feeling that I’ll know,” Haralson said, per 247Sports. “I’m getting close to that decision and I think that I will make it really soon. I don’t know the exact date yet but I think it will be really soon after I get back from the Purdue visit.”

Haralson is ranked as the No. 14 overall prospect in the 2025 recruiting class and is considered the best player out of Indiana. The 6-foot-6 wing began his career at Fishers High School (Ind.) before transferring to La Lumiere in LaPorte.

As a freshman, Haralson averaged 16.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per contest. He made a big jump in his sophomore campaign, averaging 23.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Purdue appears to be in really good position as Haralson nears his final decision. How much will the visit to West Lafayette impact his choice? It doesn’t sound like we’ll have to wait long to find out.

Coach Matt Painter and his staff have been incredibly active on the recruiting front over the summer, but the Boilermakers still don’t have a commitment yet in the 2025 class. We’ll see if that changes in the near future when Haralson makes his final decision.

PURDUE PREMIERING SEASON RECAP VIDEO: Purdue is opening Mackey Arena the night before the Homecoming game vs. Nebraska to premier its 2023-24 season recap video of the Boilers’ Final Four run. CLICK HERE

PURDUE-IU BASKETBALL DATES SET: College basketball insider Jon Rothstein reports that the dates are set for the two men’s basketball games between Purdue and Indiana in the 2024-25 season. CLICK HERE

The Detroit Tigers fell behind by four runs on a grand slam by Kansas City Royals superstar Bobby Witt Jr. in the third inning, but they chipped away at the deficit in the middle innings.

The never-quit approach from the Tigers resulted in one run in the fourth, three runs in the fifth and three runs in the sixth. Along the way, the Tigers received key hits from Colt Keith, Wenceel Pérez and Matt Vierling, among others.

“I don’t think anybody thought we were out of it,” Keith said.

The Tigers beat the Royals, 7-6, in Monday’s opener of a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.

With the win, the Tigers (78-73) trail the Minnesota Twins by 1½ games for the third and final spot in the American League wild card, with 11 games remaining. The Twins blew a three-run lead in a 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians in the first of four games in their series.

The Tigers have a 23-10 record in their last 33 games.

“Huge win,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “It was an incredible win because of how we had to do it. … Incredible win and great performance by so many of our guys.”

To get to the finish line, the Tigers had to keep the Royals from scoring in the final four innings after grabbing a 7-6 lead in the sixth inning. They were successful in doing so, thanks to strong performances from relievers Brenan Hanifee, Will Vest, Beau Brieske and Jason Foley.

In the seventh, Vest stranded runners on the corners when he recorded flyouts against both Witt and Salvador Perez. In the eighth, Brieske stranded runners on first and second when he struck out MJ Melendez and induced an inning-ending double play against Maikel Garcia.

Brieske struck out Melendez with a 99.5 mph fastball.

“A couple different times they responded to us scoring by getting guys on base,” Hinch said. “It’s a ton of pressure. They run a lot. They have a lot of athleticism. There’s a reason why these guys have a ton of wins, and why they’re in the thick of things. They play their 27 outs, too.”

Foley took over for the ninth inning.

He retired pinch-hitter Robbie Grossman, Kyle Isbel and Tommy Pham in order for his 24th save in 27 chances.

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Reese Olson returns

Right-hander Reese Olson returned from a near two-month absence on the injured list. The 25-year-old hadn’t pitched for the Tigers since July 20 because of a right shoulder strain.

He retired six batters in a row, a product of his nasty slider, before walking Adam Frazier to open the third inning.

“I felt fine,” Olson said. “That’s a win, I guess. The first two innings, I felt about as good as I could. In the third inning, I walked a guy, ground ball finds a hole, the bunt, and then I made one bad pitch. It’s four runs, but the guys picked me up.”

The Royals loaded the bases in the third, thanks to Frazier’s walk, Yuli Gurriel’s single that got past shortstop Trey Sweeney, and Isbel’s perfect bunt single.

Witt took advantage by crushing Olson’s hanging curveball for a grand slam — putting the Royals ahead, 4-0 — with one out in the third inning. After that, Perez slapped a single to right field that chased Olson from his start.

Olson allowed four runs on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts across 2⅓ innings, throwing 50 pitches. He generated five whiffs on 18 swings, but all five whiffs were from sliders.

Rally Tigers

The Tigers stranded the bases loaded in the third inning, when Keith grounded out, but the Tigers didn’t miss later opportunities to score against right-hander Seth Lugo.

Sweeney delivered a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, cutting the Tigers’ deficit to 4-1. The Royals answered with a run against left-handed reliever Sean Guenther in the bottom of the fourth.

In the fifth inning, Vierling hit an RBI single and Keith crushed a two-run home run, making it a 5-4 deficit.

Keith pulled Lugo’s first-pitch changeup for a two-run home run to right-center field. It was his 13th homer in 138 games but his first homer since Aug. 24 (and his second homer since July 27).

“I thought he was going to throw a first-pitch fastball,” Keith said, “and I wanted to hit it to center and get the barrel out on it. He ended up throwing a changeup, left it in the zone, and I just tried to stay through it as best I could. I ended up back-spinning it, so that got it out of the park.”

Lugo allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts across 4⅔ innings, throwing 96 pitches. He entered Monday’s game with a 2.94 ERA but departed with a 3.05 ERA following his 31st start.

The Tigers worked Lugo for 64 pitches in the first three innings, including 24 pitches in both the first and third.

“It’s nothing overpowering,” Spencer Torkelson said. “It’s not like it’s 98 (mph) where you don’t see it. It’s really an at-bat where you get yourself out early if you let him. You know he’s not going to give in. It’s being selective, but not too selective. It’s like a semi-selective aggressive approach.”

Again, the Royals responded with another run — taking a 6-4 lead — on Isbel’s triple and Witt’s infield single against right-handed reliever Brenan Hanifee in the bottom of the fifth.

The Tigers, though, wouldn’t go away.

Back-to-back singles from Andy Ibáñez and Jake Rogers against left-handed reliever Sam Long put runners on the corners in the sixth inning, with Pérez driving them in with a pinch-hit, two-run double into the left-field corner. After that, Vierling shot an RBI single into right field, facing right-handed reliever John Schreiber.

The three-run sixth put the Tigers ahead, 7-6.

“He’s a guy that was hitting in the middle of our order, gets hurt (with an oblique strain), and when he comes back, everything on our team has changed, and he didn’t change,” Hinch said of Pérez. “He hasn’t missed a beat. We hurried him back to get him in the mix because having a switch-hitter, even if it was on the bench, is going to be very valuable to make decisions during the game.”

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

Listen to our weekly Tigers show “Days of Roar” every Monday afternoon on demand at freep.com, Apple, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. And catch all of our podcasts and daily voice briefing at freep.com/podcasts.