Detroit’s Tigers rallied from a 3-1 deficit to defeat the Kansas City Royals 6-5 on Saturday night, snapping the Royals’ four-game winning streak. The Tigers’ victory was fueled by a five-run seventh inning, highlighted by Matt Vierling’s three-run homer.
Trailing 3-1, Detroit’s offense came alive in the seventh against Royals reliever Chris Stratton. Jake Rogers drew a walk to start the rally, followed by singles from Riley Greene and Mark Canha, driving in Rogers. Wenceel Perez flew out to the right-field wall, allowing Greene to advance to third, and Kerry Carpenter tied the game with a base hit. After Spencer Torkelson popped out, Vierling launched Stratton’s 1-2 sinker over the left-field fence, giving the Tigers a 6-3 lead.
The Royals attempted a comeback in the ninth inning, scoring twice off Tigers closer Jason Foley. However, Vinnie Pasquatino’s flyout to deep center ended the game, securing the victory for Detroit.
Despite committing four infield errors, the Tigers managed to overcome the Royals’ early lead. Alex Faedo earned the win with two innings of relief, while starter Casey Mize allowed three runs, two earned, in five innings. Royals starter Brady Singer allowed one run in five innings.
The Royals took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on RBI groundouts from Maikel Garcia and Salvador Perez. They extended their lead to 3-0 in the second inning with Garcia’s RBI single, set up by a pair of Tigers errors.
The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the second inning when Colt Keith scored on Zach McKinstry’s triple. However, Singer prevented further damage by getting Javier Báez and Rogers to ground out before striking out Greene.
The teams will conclude their weekend series on Sunday with Tigers’ ace LHP Tarik Skubal facing RHP Michael Wacha.
