Royals Report: 4 Things About Hanging 16 Runs On Tigers

4) Edinson Volquez Was Better Than His Stat Line

The real key to this game was Edinson Volquez settling down after a rough first inning in which he gave up two runs. Volquez held the Tigers scoreless over then next five innings as the KC Royals took over the game by scoring eight runs.

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With a six-run bulge in the seventh inning, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost sent Volquez back to the mound with a safe lead. Had the game been close, Yost would likely have brought out his three-headed monster to finish the game at that point, and Volquez would have hit the showers having given up only two earned runs in six innings.

Instead, Detroit hung three runs on Volquez in the seventh, including a two-run home run from Justin Upton. That one extra out gave Volquez a bad 6.1 IP, 5 ER, 6 K line that looked much worse than it really was.

Volquez did get the win to run his season record to 7-6, but his ERA jumped to 4.12. Saturday night was a game where the stats don’t really tell the story. Edinson Volquez was a big reason why the KC Royals won Saturday night, not someone they won in spite of.

Next: Whit Merrifield