Tigers Jump Past Royals 6-4 in Series Finale

Jeremy Guthrie‘s struggles continued, as the Royals dropped the final game of a four-game set against the Tigers 6-4 in front of a third-consecutive sell out crowd on Sunday afternoon.

The Tigers were in command from start to finish, getting 5+ no-hit innings from starter Anibal Sanchez,  as the offense knocked Guthrie around for six earned runs on 11 hits in six innings of work.

Alex Avila started the scoring with an RBI single in the 2nd, scoring Yoenis Cespedes.

It was Avila again in the 4th, as he singled in Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez.  Cespedes also scored on the play following a Paulo Orlando error in right field.

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The Tigers added two more in the 5th on a Miguel Cabrera two-run home run, his first against the Royals since 2013.

Kansas City did rally, however, in both the 7th and 8th innings, first after Eric Hosmer doubled Kendrys Morales to third, followed by a sac fly from Eric Kratz and a RBI single from Omar Infante, making it a 6-2 game. However, Sanchez got Orlando to ground into a fielders choice to end the inning.

With one out in the 8th, Colon singled to center and advanced to third on an Alex Gordon double. Mike Moustakas grounded out to second to drive in Colon and was followed by an RBI bloop single from Morales to make it a 6-4 game, bringing up Hosmer representing the tying run. However, Hosmer struck out on what looked to be a bad check-swing call made by home plate umpire Dale Scott.

Following a drama-free inning from Kelvin Herrera in the top half of the 9th, the Royals went quietly in the bottom half of the 9th, falling to 16-9 on the season and a 1/2 game back of the Tigers in the AL Central.

Notables: 

• In the top half of the 3rd, Christian Colon and Omar Infante turned one of the wildest double plays you will ever see. With Jose Iglesias on second and one down, Ian Kinsler hit a ground ball to Colon, who turned and threw to Infante, nailing Iglesias as he dove back into second. Catching even the umpire off guard, Infante turned and threw to Eric Hosmer, who made an nice pick at first to nail Kinsler, ending the inning.
• The Royals scored two runs off of Sanchez in 7 1/3 innings, marking the first time in his 8 career starts against Kansas City that he gave up more than one run. Yeah, that’s not necessarily positive, but hey, it’s notable.
• Eric Hosmer represented the tying run in the 8th inning with two outs and a runner on first, but struck out checking his swing. The call was not made on an appeal, with Scott making the call himself, even though it appeared that Hosmer did not swing. You could (can) argue that Hosmer should not have been offering at the pitch at all, but that argument is for another day.

Next: Cleveland Indians vs. Kansas City Royals, Tuesday, May 5, 7:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium; RHP Danny Salazar (3-0, 3.32 ERA) vs. LHP Jason Vargas (2-1, 5.95 ERA)

Next: Royals steal more than bases