Royals blow it in the ninth, fall to Tigers 4-3

Despite holding a lead into the ninth inning, the Royals bullpen coughed it up and allowed the Tigers to come back and win 4-3. The loss moves the Royals to 1.5 games back of Detroit for fourth place in the AL Central.

Kansas City got off to a hot start in the top of the first. With the bases loaded and one out, Hunter Dozier roped an RBI-double to make it 2-0. However, the Tigers responded with a run in the home half to cut the lead in half.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Royals added some insurance on an RBI-single from Whit Merrifield. That RBI was Merrifield’s 34th of season.

After his shaky first, Bubic battled through the next three scoreless frames. Unfortunately, Detroit forced him into hot water in the fifth. With first and third and two outs, Bubic allowed another RBI-single to Eric Haase. The left-hander was pulled shortly after and Jose Cuas was able to escape the frame without allowing any further damage.

For the next three innings, the score remained at 3-2. Amir Garrett, Wyatt Mills and Joel Payamps combined to toss 3 ¹⁄₃ scoreless innings. On top of their strong performances, there was some fireworks in the latter stages of the game. Garrett, who had previous history with Javier Báez, had choice words from the dugout.

The lead couldn’t be held forever, though. In the bottom of the ninth, Mike Matheny elected to keep Payamps in the game for a six-out save. That decision burned the Royals as Victor Reyes tied the game with a solo homer and rookie Riley Greene walked-off with a home run to center field.

The Royals, 28-48, will go for the series win tomorrow against Tarik Skubal. Brady Singer will throw for Kansas City. First pitch is set for 11:05 a.m. CT.