Offense shines early as the Royals smack the Tigers, 15-3

Coming into Saturday afternoon, the Royals had combined for 17 runs the last two times Chris Owings didn’t find himself in the starting lineup. In today’s instance, the result remained the same as Kansas City pounded the Tigers pitching staff for 15 runs on 19 hits in route to a 15-3 win.

Facing Tyson Ross, who limited the Royals to one run in seven innings of work in the last matchup, Kansas City made sure the prior numbers wouldn’t dictate the outcome on Saturday. In the bottom of the first inning, the offense wasted no time in giving starter Homer Bailey some early run support. With a runner on, Alex Gordon sent a high fly-ball that carried well enough to drop just over the wall in left field, giving the Royals a 2-0 lead. The 35-year-old finished with a team-high five RBIs. Two batters later, Jorge Soler belted a double to the deepest part of Comerica Park in right-center, driving in the third run. Ryan O’Hearn followed up with a ringing single of his own to bring Soler home. Before Detroit had the opportunity the step up to the plate, Kansas City spotted Bailey four runs in the opening frame.

After setting down the Tigers without much of a response, the carnage ensued on Tyson Ross. Plating the fifth run of the game on Adalberto Mondesi’s major league leading sixth triple, the bats chased Ross out after just 1.1 innings. The Royals tacked on two more runs in the third by way of a walk and a Kelvin Gutierrez RBI-double, who finished with four hits on the day. The total was the most by a Royals rookie since 2015 (Christian Colon). Although working with a sizable lead, Bailey pitched well enough to earn another quality start. Tossing six innings and allowing just two runs, Bailey managed to triple his win total from a season ago.

In the top of the eighth, the Royals continued to pour salt into the wound. Scoring six runs to push the total to 15 runs and 19 hits on the day, the production wound up being a season high in both categories. Of the nine hitters, seven of them turned in multi-hit performances. Billy Hamilton was the only player held hitless on the day. Tomorrow, Brad Keller will toe the slab for the series finale. Spencer Turnbull will counter for Detroit. First pitch is set for 12:10 CT.