Another night, another Detroit Tigers victory, another stellar night for JaCoby Jones. Jones would collect three hits tonight, two doubles and the game’s home run homer, to propel the Tigers past the Kansas City Royals. Things seemed to go backwards early, but the Tigers would make adjustments to dig out of an early hole, and the bullpen would remain strong as the Tigers would win by a final score of 5-4.
Matthew Boyd struggled to keep Royals hitters out of his pitches early in the game. From a Whit Merrified starting double to a Ryan McBroom-powered single, the Royals hitters were picking up the deals from Boyd’s left hand with an annoying consistency.
Throughout the first three innings, Boyd pitched a heavy fastball and slippery offer, but the Royals were able to hold eight hits and four runs. They grabbed the slider and fired the non-hanging ones as they synchronized the fastball, putting most of the balls in play off the heater.
To Boyd’s credit, he fought through him with good mastery, without issuing any rides on his excursion. He started mixing his curveball more and made a difference, as the Royals were only able to get one hit in Boyd’s last two innings. Boyd’s finish line was a testament to his endurance and midgame adjustments: 5IP, 9H, 4ER, 0BB, 6K.
Meanwhile, Danny Duffy was cheating on Tiger hitters early and frequently, opening the game by striking out Tiger’s first four hitters. The Tigers did not pick up their first hit until the third inning, when JaCoby Jones hit a double to the left field wall, preceded by a Grayson Greiner pitch shot. Greiner would score on a Jonathan Schoop sacrifice fly.
The Tigers offensive would really come to life in the fifth inning and make its way against Duffy. Víctor Reyes started with a walk and Jones followed with another double to put two in scoring position. Goodrum brought home another run with a sacrifice fly, and then Schoop tied the game with an opposing field, a two-run homer, which just beat the glove of a Merrifield by jumping off the wall of right field.
So it was until the end of the seventh when the early Tigers MVP JaCoby Jones applied a very compact, Miguel Cabrera-like punch to a Ian Kennedy cutter, driving him right over the field wall. right for the game to win at home run.
While Jones starred in the offense, it was the Tigers bullpen who impressed again with several blocking innings. John Schriber worked a sixth 1-2-3 sixth, thanks to an overturned game call that was switched to one out. Bryan Garcia worked a clean seventh inning, and Buck Farmer would navigate the eighth with no problems. Joe Jiménez climbed the mound in the ninth and quickly retired from the team to maintain his leadership in the major leagues in saves. Combined, the Tigers’ bullpen put the last twelve batters in order, without even allowing a hit to Merrifield.
The Tigers will seek to close the series tomorrow at 7:10 pm ET. Ivan Nova is on the hill for the Tigers, while rookie right-hander Brady Singer will take the ball for the Royals.
