Maybe it was the presence of #SolerPower back with the Kansas City Royals. Maybe it was Brandon Moss not in the starting line up. Perhaps Ian Kennedy has figured it all out…not that likely. Whatever it was the Kansas City Royals won game two on Wednesday evening 8-2 in Detroit.
Power was once again on display for the Kansas City Royals. Salvador Perez (16) and Mike Moustakas (20) hung back-to-back dongs in the fourth inning off Tigers’ starter Daniel Norris. This marked the sixth time the Royals have hit back-to-back homeruns this year. Salvy showed why he is the vote leader for American League catchers for the All-Star game. Moose continues to make his case for both the game and the Homerun Derby.
At this point fans are used to Perez and Moustakas’ heroics. What was perhaps most impressive on the night was the performance of starter Kennedy. Ian threw seven innings giving up two runs on five hits. Those two runs came off solo sots by Alex Avila and Miguel Cabrera. Against a powerful Detroit lineup it was a solid outing.
Kennedy also notched five strikeouts against just one walk. All together one of the best outings of the year for the right-handed pitcher. Not that there are many performances to challenge it, Kennedy is 2-6 on the year.
Alex Gordon continued his quest of turning his season around. Gordo went 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. He was one of five Kansas City Royals with a multi-hit game. Alcides Escobar had three hits, THAT’S FIVE HITS from the eight and nine spots…explain that!
Joakim Soria and Kevin McCarthy combined to finish out the game to improve the Kansas City Royals to 38-38 on the year. They are now two games back of Cleveland for the top spot in the American League Central.
Next: Preview the Detroit Series
The Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers will face off in the series finale Thursday from Comerica Park. Game time is 12:10 Central and will feature Jake Junis on the bump for the Royals. Michael Fulmer gets the nod for the Tigers.