Tigers jump on Junis, Royals fall 7-3

There were a lot of things that happened in the Royals 7-3 loss to the Tigers Thursday afternoon.

First, Justin Upton opened up the scoring with a three-run home run in the first inning. It was a portend of many things for Jakob Junis, but he threw in some oddities just for fun.

For instance, after throwing twenty-plus pitches in a dreadful first inning, he breezed through the Tigers in the second on five pitches. In the third, it took another twenty-plus pitches to get through the order again, after Ian Kinsler led off the inning with a home run that scraped off the top of Alex Gordon’s outstretched glove in left.

Michael Fulmer, for his part, was very good. Kansas City bailed him out with three double plays, but he pitched effectively all game until the ninth inning. Ramon Torres worked a long at-bat and singled with two outs. Jorge Bonifacio followed with a single of his own, and then Drew Butera doubled to ruin the shutout. An error by Justin Upton on an Eric Hosmer batted ball ruined the complete game, allowing Butera to score from second.

Junis’ final line was fairly satanic, going six innings with six runs and six walks-plus-home-runs. I guess that last one doesn’t particularly qualify. Junis gave up seven hits and struck out five though, and if you add them together and divide by two, it is also six.

Kevin McCarthy pitched a shaky seventh, giving up a seventh run in the process. Neftali Feliz completed a perfect eighth.

Kansas City finished the game with seven hits and no walks. They are, again, under .500 at 38-39.

Next, Kansas City has a four-game series against the Twins at Kauffman Stadium. Two of the American League’s best pitchers will meet, as Jason Vargas (11-3, 2.29 ERA) will face off against old friend Ervin Santana (10-4, 2.80 ERA).