Tigers and Skubal defeat Royals, just half a game away from wildcard spot

Kansas City, Missouri. – Tarik Skubal let out his trademark scream after ending the fifth inning and his night by striking out arch-nemesis Salvador Perez, leaving two runners on the field.

He was so excited that he ripped the glove off his right hand. And why not? On Wednesday, he had thrown seven strikeouts in his five innings and allowed just one run in the first inning, finally conquering some of his demons at Kauffman Stadium.

He helped the storming Tigers to their fourth straight win and their first sweep of the Royals in Kansas City since June 2021. And more importantly, they moved one step closer to the final wild-card spot in the American League.

The Tigers’ 4-2 win over the Royals and the Twins’ bitter 10th-inning loss to the Guardians in Cleveland put them just half a game away from last place.

How unreal is that? The Tigers were nine games under .500 on July 4. They traded four veteran players at the deadline. They designated another for assignment. Their starting shortstop suffered a season-ending hip injury. And yet they have the best record in the American League (33-23) since the All-Star break and the best record in baseball (25-10) since August 11.

Things got a bit dicey in the eighth inning, especially because the Tigers’ best relievers (Jason Foley and Tyler Holton) were unavailable.

Right-hander Brenan Hanifee replaced Skubal in the sixth inning and kept the Royals off the board for two innings. In the eighth inning, Bobby Witt Jr. hit a pop-up behind third base.

Shortstop Trey Sweeney and third baseman Zach McKinstry miscommunicated and the ball fell for a double. Perez followed with an RBI single.

Manager AJ Hinch called in left-hander Sean Guenther for left-hander pinch hitter MJ Melendez. Royals manager Matt Quatraro countered with right-hander Freddy Fermin.

RESULT: Tigers 4, Royals 2

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Guenther caused a 5-4-3 double play with his second pitch and the Tigers survived the inning.

With left-hander Michael Massey leading off the ball in the bottom of the ninth inning, Guenther stayed out. Spencer Torkelson helped him out by making a crucial pike catch to right.

Will Vest came in and made the last two outs without drama.

It was a busy five innings for Skubal, who had a 1-5 record and an ERA over 6.0 in his career with Kauffman.

And the way it started, it seemed like it was going to be another one of those nights. The Royals caught him with three ground ball singles in the first inning and took a 1-0 lead.

Skubal responded by going into faceoff mode, attacking the Royals with four-seam fastballs at 97 to 99 miles per hour. And he didn’t allow another hit.

He threw 53 heaters and managed 11 whiffs (in 31 swings) and 11 strikes. He combined for 31 changeups (six whiffs in 14 swings).

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Skubal struck out Witt Jr. twice, winning the third in a nine-pitch battle that he eventually knocked out with a 99-mile-per-hour fastball.

He got himself in trouble in the fifth inning when he hit Witt with a two-strike fastball when he had two outs. Garrett Hampson had reached base earlier in the inning on an error by third baseman Zach McKinstry.

That brought Perez’s turn. He has terrorized Skubal in his career, going 10-of-27 with four home runs and having one of the hits in the first inning.

But Skubal never let him settle, mixing changeups and four-seamers. He finally got the strikeout by throwing two consecutive 3-2 changeups, the last one bouncing to his back foot and Perez swinging over it.

Through the offensive he had gained a lead of 4:1.

After the Tigers left five runners on base in the first two innings, Riley Greene decided to exclude the runner in scoring position from batting.

As the first batter of the third inning, he hit a 93-mph fastball from Royals right-hander Alec Marsh. The ball traveled 427 feet and landed behind the bullpen in right field.

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He had swung way too early on the changeup of the previous pitch. He couldn’t have arrived at the heater any more on time.

The ball left his bat with an exit velocity of 112 mph. It was Greene’s 25th home run and it led off a three-run inning.

After Spencer Torkelson hit a walk and Jace Jung hit a single, Trey Sweeney hit a double at first base and both runs were scored.

Third base coach Joey Cora aggressively sent Jung home and the throw got there first. Somehow, however, he managed to get his foot on the plate before catcher Perez could throw the bat.

This was the last time a Tigers runner came close to home base.

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