Tigers match Twins' pace, defeat Royals in extra innings

Kansas City, Mo. — Before the sport Tuesday, Matt Vierling was speaking about how the Tigers virtually really feel like they’re enjoying with home cash this month.

“In all honesty, us being in this position right now, no one thought we would be here,” he mentioned. “We’re just really grateful and happy and just having fun and our young guys are starting to believe. This has all just kind of organically come about and we’ve rolled with it.

“Just playing and having fun and we’re shocking people. It’s kind of fun.”

This one had some stress to it. The sport was deadlocked, 1-1, from the third inning via the ninth. And the Tigers knew that the Twins had already gained their sport in Cleveland.

After lefty reliever Tyler Holton dispatched six straight hitters via the eighth and ninth innings, Parker Meadows, who saved two runs with a sensational catch earlier in the sport, blooped an opposite-field single to left in the highest of the tenth inning, scoring free runner Trey Sweeney and breaking the tie.

Riley Greene adopted with an RBI single and the Tigers saved the prepare rolling, taking a 3-1, 10-inning victory over the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

“There is some of that,” mentioned Meadows of the notion that issues are beginning to tighten up. “But we're going to keep doing our thing and playing our game. Just show up every day and have fun and stay relaxed. Just be in the moment and keep coming out punching in big situations.

“This workforce is actually good at that.”

BOX SCORE: Tigers 3, Royals 1 (10)

MLB STANDINGS

Right-hander Jason Foley, working his third straight game, earned his third straight save (25 on the season). He went through the teeth of the Royals' order — Bobby Witt, Jr., Salvador Perez and Michael Massey — to strand the free runner.

The win keeps the Tigers, who at 79-73 are six games over .500 for the first time this season, one and a half games behind the Twins for the final wild-card spot with 10 games left. Their 24-10 record since Aug. 3 is the best in baseball.

But this sport would not get to the tenth inning with out the play Meadows made in the third inning. The Royals already scored a run in opposition to starter Casey Mize and had two on with two outs. Hunter Renfroe lined a ball instantly over Meadows' head in middle.

Meadows tracked it 75 ft with a dash velocity of 27.6 ft per second and snared it on the wall.

“I used to be a tricky one,” he said. “I acquired a fairly good leap, perhaps not one of the best leap however I used to be in a position to make up for it. I needed to beat the ball to the spot. I appeared up on the final second and noticed it was catchable.”

Mize just shook his head.

“At first I used to be shocked after which I used to be like, ‘Why am I shocked that Parker is working down that ball,'” Mize said. “We had been speaking about it up right here. Like, that man could be a famous person. He's acquired all of it. Running down a ball like that, it form of reminds you why. He's a freak on the market.”

The Tigers are 42-23 when Meadows starts. That's feeling less random by the day.

“I'm going to start out him tomorrow,” manager AJ Hinch quipped. “It's actually outstanding. He has been an impression participant on either side and he can get quite a bit higher. We can win with him.”

The Tigers can win with their bullpen, too, and Hinch continues to lean heavily on his back-end warriors.

Mize, though his fastballs were hitting 97 and 98 mph and his sliders and splitters were hitting 90, didn't get out of the fifth inning for the second straight start.

“It wasn't fairly or good from my finish, however I gave it the whole lot I had each pitch and I felt like I saved us in it one of the best I may,” said Mize, who allowed a run with six hits and four walks in 4.1 innings.

With one out in the fifth, he gave up a single to Tommy Pham and then walked Witt and Perez. He was at 89 pitches Hinch went to the bullpen.

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Right-hander Shelby Miller got out of the jam with one pitch. He got Massey to bounce into a fast 4-6-3 double-play.

“We had been amazed at first,” Mize said of the Tigers' bullpen prowess. “Now it is like, that is simply what they do. We be ok with turning the ball over to them as a result of they're relentless in the truth that they're getting outs in lots of alternative ways and getting the job completed.

“I wish I could have done more for them tonight, but when I see Shelby running in, I feel confident he's going to get out of the situation. That's just where we're at right now.”

Miller acquired out of a base-loaded jam in the sixth inning, too, getting Pham to fly out to proper.

Beau Brieske, pitching for the fourth time in 5 days, impressively struck out Witt (trying), Perez (swinging) and Massey (trying) in the seventh, protecting the sport tied 1-1.

“Beau is pitching with a lot of confidence and his stuff is plus-plus,” Hinch mentioned. “And he's coming in with a little emotion into the dugout, which I love. These guys are all in and they're laying it all on the line. They've pitched a ton and they're emptying the tank.”

Holton took it from there and 6 quick outs later handed it to Foley to shut it out.

“We've been playing well all year and you just try to keep everything, process-wise, the same,” Foley mentioned. “Just attack the zone. Don't get behind…They certainly had the part of their order they wanted up (in the 10th). It was huge we got that second run.”

More: Playoffs? Here's what awaits the Tigers in the event that they get a wild-card spot

The Tigers by no means acquired on observe in opposition to Royals' lefty starter Cole Ragans. He allowed an RBI double to Vierling in the primary inning and nothing else via seven. Tigers hitters whiffed on 10-of-18 swings at his changeup. They additionally took 9 four-seamers for known as strikes.

But they stayed in the struggle lengthy sufficient for Meadows to struggle off a nasty changeup from reliever Lucas Erceg in the tenth inning and dump it into left.

“Tough pitch, tough pitcher and we put some tough at-bats together against him,” Hinch mentioned. “Riley had a really good at-bat and that was connected to Jace's at-bat.”

After Meadows' broke the tie, Jace Jung, batting for Andy Ibanez, noticed 9 pitches from Erceg earlier than putting out. Vierling prolonged the inning with a stroll and Greene lashed one up the center and previous Witt.

As Meadows mentioned, they hold punching in huge conditions.

There was one down be aware on the evening. Rookie second baseman Colt Keith was pulled from the sport in the eighth inning. He dove on a ball hit up the center by Pham in fifth inning and landed laborious on his proper shoulder.

“I kind of jammed it and I didn't feel great throwing,” Keith mentioned. “So I took myself out. We will see how it goes tomorrow or the next day whenever I get it checked out.”

It's the identical shoulder Keith injured at West Michigan in 2022. That was a labrum harm, which did not require surgical procedure.

“I think he's OK, he's got to go get checked out,” Hinch mentioned. “He dove and jammed his right shoulder and didn't feel strong. In a close game like this, I can't take any chances that he won't be able to make a throw or obviously, swing. We're hopeful he just banged it on the dive and it's nothing more.”

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