Royals mauled by Tigers 8-3

The first inning alone was enough to send Royals fans into a tizzy, but the third inning sealed the quick exit as the Royals lost to the Tigers 8-3 on Friday.

Duffy gave up two runs in the first and labored through his outing, walking four and yielding seven hits. Two home runs in the third pushed the margin to 4-0 and given the offensive illusion that has been the Kansas City attack recently, very little could be done about the prevailing sense that the game was over before it could begin. A two-run shot by Cameron Maybin in the fourth sealed the evening and pushed the few Kansas City faithful in attendance towards the exits.

Michael Fulmer was dominant in his outing. Though he yielded eight hits, he struck out nine in seven innings without walking anyone. The lone blemish on his ledger was an RBI infield single by Paulo Orlando that pushed the score to 6-1. The Tigers, though, responded in the bottom half of the frame with a bases loaded walk and a sacrifice fly. Both runs were unearned off of Peter Moylan, but little consolation can be taken from the relative drubbing that had already occurred.

Chris Young pitched two innings in mop-up duty without giving up a run, which seems like a victory in and of itself, considering he is under contract for the foreseeable future.

Kendrys Morales had two hits, as did Whit Merrifield. Cuthbert was 1-for-3 with a walk, but the offense throughout the game looked resigned and stale. The offense made a bit of a showing in the ninth, as Jarrod Dyson drove in Alex Gordon and Cheslor Cuthbert on a triple. Aside from that minor boon, there was not much to wish over, save for a wish for things that worked.

Kansas City will try and even the series tomorrow. Yordano Ventura (11-11, 4.35 ERA) will twirl for Kansas City as Detroit will send Daniel Norris (3-2, 3.63) to the bump.