Kansas
Detroit Tigers outlast Kansas City Royals in extras, 3-1, to hold ground in playoff race
Can Detroit Tigers catch struggling Minnesota Twins?
Minnesota Star Tribune beat writer Bobby Nightengale joins Days of Roar to discuss how the struggling Minnesota Twins are helping the Detroit Tigers.
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.
Kansas
With of help generous Kansas Citians, families receive holiday gifts at Season of Hope toy drive
KANSAS CITY, Mo — KSHB 41 News and the Salvation Army held the 2024 Season of Hope toy drive Thursday.
It’s the fourth year of a partnership to help Kansas City area families during the holiday season.
With it being this close to the holidays, stores were probably packed with last-minute shoppers, but so was the Salvation Army for the drive, with families picking out the perfect gifts for their loved ones.
Mariah Nicholas is a mom of four — two girls and two boys.
Spending Christmas with them means a little more this year. She almost lost her life in a car accident right before Thanksgiving.
“I hydroplaned off the road and slammed into a tree line on my side,” Nicholas said. “So, I took the blunt of it but I’m hanging in there.”
She signed up for the Season of Hope toy drive to fill a void she couldn’t this Christmas. She says this will take off some of the financial burden.
“I lost my job right before Thanksgiving due to my wreck,” Nicholas said. “So, I’m waiting to go back, but without this help, I probably wouldn’t be able to do much.”
KSHB 41 News staff
She’s one of 300 families that will benefit from the drive.
It was set up department style, allowing each family to get a personal shopping experience to pick out toys that their children would like.
“There are a lot of toys that my kids will actually enjoy,” said Nina Velazquez, a mom of two. “Usually, I’m very very stressed out because I’m at Walmart in line with 100,000 people and my pocket usually doesn’t have enough to cover everything.”
KSHB 41 News staff
In total, 11,250 toys were donated this year, and each family received gift cards to Aldi’s, helping to fill their table and tree.
“They get not just a single toy,” Salvation Army Pastor Dawn Windham said. “It’s a big toy and a small toy, and stocking stuffers, and books and family games and clothing — it’s just amazing.”
KSHB 41 News staff
This event giving more than just hope this holiday season.
“To watch them open, you know more than what I could give them on Christmas this year,” Nicholas said. “So, I’m super grateful to the Salvation Army and them helping us.”
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KSHB 41 reporter La’Nita Brooks covers stories providing solutions and offering discussions on topics of crime and violence. Share your story idea with La’Nita.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The FBI distributed posters Thursday morning for two fugitives potentially in Kansas wanted in connection to multiple jewelry heists.
Arrest warrants through the U.S. District Court of Kansas have been issued for Vasile Sava and Onita Rostas.
The pair were indicted earlier this year by a federal grand jury in connection to two jewelry store burglaries across parts of Kansas:
- May 18, 2022 at Marks Jewelers in Lawrence, Kansas
- Aug. 20, 2022 at Calhoun’s Jewelers in Topeka, Kansas
Court documents indicate the pair stole nearly $60,000 worth of jewelry at the two locations.
The court document also allege the pair were part of a much larger Romanian-based conspiracy in which three other suspects are alleged to have stolen more than $37,000 from two additional jewelry stores in 2023 in McPherson, Kansas and Manhattan, Kansas.
The pair have been charged with conspiracy to commit interstate transportation of stolen property.
During these robberies, it’s alleged that groups of two or more entered jewelry stores and distracted employees, while the other individuals would remove and conceal displayed items in a sleight-of-hand theft.
Sava and Rostas are married, and investigators believe they may be using aliasas, and may be in various locations including Californni, Texas, Florida, Maryland and Virginia.
The FBI has issued wanted posters for the pair you can see on the FBI’s Website.
Anyone with info. on their whereabouts is encouraged to contact any law enforcement agency, or contact the FBI a www.tips.fbi.gov or via the National FBI Tip Line at 1-800-CALLFBI.
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If you have any information about a crime, you may contact your local police department directly. But if you want or need to remain anonymous, you should contact the Greater Kansas City Crime Stoppers Tips Hotline by calling 816-474-TIPS (8477), submitting the tip online or through the free mobile app at P3Tips.com. Depending on your tip, Crime Stoppers could offer you a cash reward.
Annual homicide details and data for the Kansas City area are available through the KSHB 41 News Homicide Tracker, which was launched in 2015. Read the KSHB 41 News Mug Shot Policy.
Kansas State is reeling after losing its top two receivers to the transfer portal.
Thankfully, help is on the way. The Wildcats signed former Purdue wide receiver Jaron Tibbs Wednesday. Tibbs had 25 receptions for 305 yards and two touchdowns last season. His best performance was against Michigan State, where racked up four receptions for 73 yards in the seven-point loss.
Hopefully, he gets more of an opportunity to shine with a team revamping its wide receiving core.
KANSAS STATE FORWARD COLEMAN HAWKINS TAKES ACCOUNTABILITY FOR MISTAKES IN LOSS TO DRAKE
There could be many fingers pointed for Kansas State falling to Drake Tuesday night.
However, Coleman Hawkins instead took accountability for his performance. Hawkins scored 16 points but went 3 of 8 from the free-throw line and turned the ball over twice.
“I take accountability,” Hawkins said. “I missed free throws, you gotta make free throws. I shot pretty well from the line last year, I don’t know what the difference is this year. I take accountability when CJ made an elite play on the ball when we did turn the ball over. I was expecting him to foul or the guy to make a layup, so I didn’t sprint back. So that’s 100 percent on me. Just plays like that.”
He says his selflessness was the catalyst to the team’s comeback.
“I felt like when I touched the ball and was able to drive gaps and pitch it, we were able to make shots,” Hawkins said. “So selfishly, I say I feel like good things were happening when I was touching the ball, but that’s because other people were making plays off of that.”
Jayden Armant is a graduate of the Howard University School of Communications and a contributor to Kansas State Wildcats on SI. He can be reached at jaydenshome14@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.
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