*Photo from the Detroit Free Press*
Although he finished the game without a hit, Kansas City Royals star second baseman Whit Merrifield was still the deciding factor on Friday. Merrifield drove in two runs, Ryan O'Hearn had an RBI, and the Royals defeated the Detroit Tigers 3-1 on Friday night in Detroit.
Carlos Hernandez received the start for the Royals, and, at the beginning, it looked like he would return to the person who gets rocked hard and has shaky command issues all game, and he'd get hit hard. But, in his up and down rookie year, he managed to snap out of his early game funk and rebound strong to keep the Royals in it.
Hernandez said of his start that "I was feeling good for the second through the 5th inning. I was feeling good and attacking the zone: One pitch by one pitch, one hitter by one hitter. It was good. A lot of days off, 9 days off, made it a little difficult. The routine was different. The good thing is that I got another opportunity."
How were the results you ask? Hernandez allowed two hits and 3 walks, while getting just one strikeout, but it was 5 shutout innings that were the star of the show as Hernandez got a no decision after it looked pretty iffy to start. The win went to Domingo Tapia, who pitched the 6th, improving to 4-0 on the season despite allowing a run. Jake Brentz and Josh Staumont each had scoreless outings, and Scott Barlow recorded his 15th save of the season by nailing things down in the 9th inning.
In terms of supporting the strong pitching, the Royals got that going in the 3rd inning, when a sac fly from Merrifield scored O'Hearn and put Kansas City ahead 1-0 early in the game. The Tigers tied things up 1-1 in the 6th, when Eric Haase scored Robbie Grossman on an RBI single. In the 7th, O'Hearn put the Royals up 2-1 with an RBI single of his own, and another sac fly from Merrifield scored Kyle Isbel and made it 3-1 in favor of the Royals.
O'Hearn was asked to describe the game, saying "How about I sum it up in one word? Relentless. It's a very cliche word but it's true. These guys battle every at-bat, every pitch, until the game's over. It was fun. Tonight was just a collective team effort."
Alex Lange took the loss in relief for the Tigers, allowing one run on two hits in 1 1/3 innings pitched, seeing his record drop to 0-3 this season. Casey Mize lasted just 3 innings in his start for the Tigers, being charged with one run on two hits, while striking out 3 hitters. Jose Urena, Derek Holland, Kyle Funkhouser, and Joe Jimenez also pitched for the Tigers.
The Tigers set up Friday night as Miguel Cabrera celebration night, both to commemorate him hitting home run number 500 of his career, and to cheer him on as he gets closer and closer to the next achievement of 3,000 career hits. His 1-4 night rose his career hit counter to 2,980, as he is now 20 hits away from 3,000.
Tigers manager AJ Hinch said postgame that "I told Miggy the other day: We’ve really enjoyed this season, with all the things he’s done. It’s brought life and energy into this ballpark. Watching him handle it has been really cool. He has never been selfish about it one day this season, and that’s pretty cool to see."
The Royals and Tigers continue their series on Saturday evening, with Jon Heasley taking the mound as he starts for the Royals, with the Tigers sending Tarik Skubal to the mound as a counter move.
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