Swinging Left And Right For The Win
Detroit Tiger offense set the tone early, Tuesday night as they faced Kansas City for the second time, in their four game series. After trailing the Royals 3-0 in the first, it didn’t take long for Tiger hitters to erase that lead and claim a lead of their own. Nine different Tiger batters made their way to the plate in the 2nd, scoring five in an inning which would feature doubles from Mikie Mahtook and Ian Kinsler, and a triple from Nick Castellanos.
Castellanos wasn’t done picking on Royals pitchers. He would add to the Tigers lead with a single home run in the 5th. At his very next bat in the 7th, he would add one more, this time with a solo homer to center. In that same inning, Justin Upton would steal third and score on a throwing error, pushing the Tigers lead to 8-3. A single from Castellanos in the 8th scored Dixon Machado. The Tigers led 9-3 and that’s how the score would stay.
Matt Boyd took a page from Anibal Sanchez, not letting a three run 1st inning, ruin his day. Boyd pitched six innings and gave up just the three runs on seven hits with one walk and three strikeouts. After striking out in the 1st, Castellanos finished the night 4 for 5, with two home runs and 5 RBI’s. Tiger pitching got the job done all around. Kansas City was limited to only one extra base hit, a double, in the 9th inning.
With their fourth straight win, the Tigers are back to six games below the .500 mark at 43-49. They take on Kansas City again Wednesday night and Thursday, before heading to Minnesota for three. By the numbers, Wednesday night’s match-up will have Justin Verlander (5-7 4.66 ERA) on the mound against Kansas City's, Jason Hammel (4-8 5.02 ERA). Our coverage begins at 7:50 on 95.3 WBCK.