DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS SHUT OUT BY SEATTLE IN SERIES FINALE: The Tigers were shut out by the Seattle, 2-0, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. Kerry Carpenter had a pair of hits, while Riley Greene, Zach McKinstry, Jake Rogers and Spencer Torkelson each had one knock. Reese Olson started for Detroit and suffered the loss, giving up two runs on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts in 5.1 innings. Mason Englert pitched 2.0 hitless innings out of the bullpen, walking one and striking out two.

KEEP CALM AND KERRY ON: Kerry Carpenter had a pair of hits in yesterday’s game against the Mariners, finishing the weekend series with five hits, including three home runs. Since being reinstated from the injured list on June 9, he is hitting .316/.359/.589 with three doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 19 RBI. Among qualified American League hitters in that span, he ranks seventh in slugging percentage, while he is ninth in home runs and 10th in OPS (.949).

TORK TIME: Spencer Torkelson went 1×4 in Sunday’s series finale at Seattle, extending his hitting streak to eight games, the longest streak of his career. Torkelson has hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games, batting .286/.355/.589 with three doubles, a triple, four home runs and 12 RBI.

RILEY AGAINST THE ROYALS: Riley Greene enters tonight’s game having hit safely in all 18 games he’s played in his career against Kansas City, batting .324/.405/.486 with four doubles, a triple, two home runs and five RBI. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Greene’s 18-game hitting streak against the Royals is tied with Starling Marte (18-game hitting streak vs. Texas) for the second-longest current hitting streak vs. one team among active players, trailing only Freddie Freeman (20-game hitting streak vs. Boston).

TIGERS AGREE TO TERMS WITH THREE SELECTIONS FROM MLB DRAFT: The Tigers announced that they have agreed to terms with three of their picks from the 2023 MLB Draft. The list of signed players includes: OF Max Clark (first round, third overall), SS John Peck (seventh round) and LHP Andrew Sears (10th round). Additionally, the Tigers have agreed to terms with undrafted free agent OF Cole Turney from Cumberland University. With today’s signings, the Tigers have now signed seven of their 21
selections from the 2023 MLB Draft.

TIGERS AND ROYALS: The Tigers and Royals begin their third series of the season tonight. Detroit is 4-2 against Kansas City this year, winning two-of-three games in both series the teams have played. The Tigers are looking to win the season series from the Royals for the second straight season.

AGAINST THE AL CENTRAL: The Tigers continue divisional play tonight against the Royals. Detroit is 15-11 against American League Central teams so far this season. The Tigers have won six of the eight series they have played against divisional foes.

ON THE ROAD: The Tigers are 2-1 on their current seven-game road trip, which includes three games at Seattle (2-1) and four games at Kansas City (July 17-20). Detroit is 21-26 on the road this season. The Tigers are hitting .220/.286/.362 as a team on the road, while the pitching staff has a 4.28 ERA (407.2IP/194ER).

TIGERS ON THE IL:

• LHP Tyler Alexander (left lat/shoulder strain, 60-day IL on July 4, retroactive to July 3)
• LHP Matthew Boyd (left elbow sprain, 60-day IL on June 27)
• OF Austin Meadows (anxiety, 60-day IL on April 8, retroactive to April 7)
• RHP Casey Mize (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on February 17)
• RHP Freddy Pacheco (right elbow sprain, 60-day IL on March 27)
• RHP Spencer Turnbull (neck discomfort, 60-day IL on May 12, retroactive to May 7)
• RHP Will Vest (right lower leg strain, 15-day IL on June 27)

TONIGHT’S TIGERS STARTING PITCHER

25 Matt Manning • 3-1, 3.72 ERA (29.0IP/12ER)

• Manning will make his sixth start of the season for the Tigers tonight in the series opener at Kansas City.
• Started the Tigers combined no-hitter against Toronto on July 8, tossing 6.2 innings with three walks and five strikeouts…marked his fourth career start with at least 6.0 shutout innings.
• Has made three starts in his career against the Royals and has a 1-0 record with a 3.65 ERA (12.1IP/5ER) and nine strikeouts…in two previous starts at Kauffman Stadium, Manning is 1-0 with a 3.24 ERA (8.1IP/3ER) and six strikeouts.
• Returned to the active roster on June 27 at Texas, allowing two runs on three hits with four walks and four strikeouts in 5.2 innings…had been sidelined since April 12 with a right foot fracture.
• Was limited to 12 starts during the 2022 season after missing much of the season due to injury…went 2-3 with a 3.43 ERA (63.0IP/24ER) and 48 strikeouts in 12 starts.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:

SUNDAY SLUGFEST: The Royals slugged their way to an 8-4 victory over the Rays yesterday at Kauffman Stadium to salvage the final game of the series…Bobby Witt Jr. and Drew Waters became the first teammates in Royals history to reach record a home run and a triple in the same game, and Witt Jr. extended his streak of games with an extra-base hit to 6, now 2 shy of the franchise record…MJ Melendez also homered later in the 8th to mark the Royals 3rd of the game, matching the team’s HR total from their previous 7 games combined.

Brady Singer cruised through 7.0 innings before allowing a 4-run 8th, but still earned his team-best 6th win.

TIME FLIES: The Royals and Rays made up for the 1-hour rain delay that pushed back the start of yesterday’s game, which they completed in 1 hour and 54 minutes…this marked the 3rd-fastest 9.0-inning game in the Majors this season, following a 1-hour, 50 minute game between the Guardians and Tigers in Game 2 of their April 18 doubleheader, and a 1-hour, 51-minute game between the Royals and Guardians on July 7…it was the 10th game in 2023 of 9.0 innings that was completed in 2 hours or fewer, and the Royals have been part of 3 of those.

Yesterday’s 1-hour, 54-minute game was Kansas City’s 5th-fastest 9.0-inning game in the Wild Card Era (since 1995)…it also matched the 6th-fastest 9.0-inning game in Kauffman Stadium history (since 1973), and was the quickest game in this park since a 1-hour, 49-minute game on May 23, 1984 vs. the White Sox.

Kansas City’s average game time of 2 hours, 35 minutes is the fastest in the Majors, and would be its fastest average game time for a single season since 1978, when the Royals averaged 2 hours, 32 minutes.

EXTRA-VAGANT: Bobby Witt Jr. had a 2-out, 2-run triple in Kansas City’s 4-run 2nd inning yesterday, and later added a solo home run in the 5th…the 2 hits extended his streak of games with an extra-base hit to 6, which is the longest run by a Royal since Salvador Perez went 6 straight games with an extra-base hit from Sept. 11-18, 2020, and it’s tied for the 2nd-longest streak by an American League player this season, trailing only Shohei Ohtani’s 7-game extra-base hit streak from June 12-18…Bobby is just 2 games shy of the franchise record of 8 consecutive games with an extra-base hit by Danny Tartabull from June 25-July 3, 1991.

Witt Jr. leads the Royals in hits (97), HR (16) and RBI (51) as he attempts to become the first Royals player to lead the team in all three categories since Billy Butler had 192 hits, 29 HR and 107 RBI in 2012.

Witt Jr. ranks 4th in the Majors with 27 stolen bases behind Esteury Ruiz (43), Ronald Acuña Jr. (43) and Wander Franco (28), after finishing 4th in the American League as a rookie last season with 30 steals.

His combination of 16 HR and 27 steals are matched by only Acuña Jr., who has 23 HR and 43 steals… through 94 team games, Bobby is on pace for 27 HR and 46 steals, combination that has never been matched in Royals history…in fact, that combination has been matched only nine times in Major League history and most recently by Mike Trout, who went 30/49 during his Rookie of the Year 2012 campaign.

In his last 45 games since May 23, Witt Jr. is batting .303 (53-for-175) with 20 XBH (.875 OPS) and 32 RBI.

STARTING SOMETHING: In 4 games since the final game before the All-Star break, the Royals starting rotation has recorded a 2.88 ERA (8 ER in 25.0 IP) and .237 opponents’ average (22-for-93) with just 4 walks (1.4 BB/9) and 23 strikeouts (8.3 K/9)…this run started on July 9, when Ryan Yarbrough returned from the Injured List to record 6.0 innings of 1-run ball in Cleveland…it has continued since play resumed after the break, with a pair of impressive showings during Saturday’s doubleheader vs. Tampa Bay…in Game 1, 25-year-old Alec Marsh—who was making his 3rd career start—held baseball’s 2nd-highest-scoring offense to 2 runs on 5 hits in 6.0 innings, with 1 walk and 11 strikeouts…in Game 2, the 25-year-old left hander Cole Ragans made his Royals debut and allowed just 1 run on 4 hits and 2 walks in 5.0 innings, with 3 strikeouts… Brady Singer kept the good vibes going in yesterday’s win, delivering 8.0 innings with 4 runs allowed.

VS. TIGERS: The Royals are hosting the Tigers this week for the second time this season, after Detroit took 2 of 3 here in May, including the series-deciding game… that pattern held true again last month in Detroit, where the Tigers won the rubber match to clinch their fourth straight series win vs. the Royals dating back to last season.

Over the last four seasons (since 2020), 39 of the 54 games between the Royals and Tigers (72.2%) have been decided by 3 runs or fewer, including 20 1-run games (37.0%)…through 6 games this season, the Royals and Tigers have played 5 games decided by 3 runs or fewer, including all 3 games here in May.

TRIPLE THREAT: When Bobby Witt Jr. and Drew Waters tripled in Kansas City’s 4-run 2nd inning yesterday, it marked the 59th time in franchise history that the Royals recorded 2 triples in the same frame, and it was the first instance since Aug. 23, 2022, when Witt Jr. and Nicky Lopez turned the trick…the Royals enter tonight with 23 triples, which are 4 more than the Reds and Guardians (19 each) for the Major League lead… the Royals are attempting to lead the Majors in triples for the second straight season—after pacing the league with 38 in 2022…that was the first time they led the Majors in triples since 2009 (51), but the Royals 2,225 triples since their inception in 1969 are by far the most in the Majors, 136 more than the Pirates (2,089).

Bobby’s triple yesterday was his 6th of the season, matching Shohei Ohtani for the Majors lead…his 12 career triples match Brian McRae for the most by a Royal through a player’s first two big league seasons.

ARMS RACE: The Royals enter today with a Major League-most 22 outfield assists, which are 4 more than the Red Sox, Cardinals and this week’s opponent, the Tigers (18 each)…the Royals 22 outfield assists match their total from all of last season, as they attempt to lead the Majors in this category for the first time since 2011 and 2012, when they had 51 in both seasons, which were the most by any team since Cleveland had 51 in 1993.

Nine different Royals have recorded an outfield assist this season, led by MJ Melendez, whose 6 outfield assists are tied for 6th most in the AL, 4 behind Adolis García and Alex Verdugo for the league lead.

SALVY SPLASHES: Royals Captain Salvador Perez singled and scored from first base yesterday on MJ Melendez’s double in the 1st inning to give the Royals an early lead…but Salvy limped to the dugout after sliding into home plate and was pinch-hit for in the 2nd inning by Freddy Fermin…he was initially diagnosed with left hamstring discomfort, and after the game, Manager Matt Quatraro said Salvy had a left hamstring strain, and will undergo further testing to determine the severity…Salvy is 6-for-his-last-9 since snapping a 4-for-43 skid, including his 500th career extra-base hit in Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader vs. the Rays, which broke a tie with Mike Sweeney (499) for 6th most in Royals history behind George Brett (1,119), Hal McRae (681), Frank White (625), Amos Otis (623) and Alex Gordon (573)…Perez is now one of 30 active players with 500 extra-base hits and he’s the 21st primary catcher all-time.

Perez was Kansas City’s representative in the All-Star Game last Tuesday in Seattle…Salvy pinch hit for Shohei Ohtani in the 6th inning and singled to right off Alexis Díaz then later scored the go-ahead run on Bo Bichette’s sacrifice fly…it was the 1st hit by a Royal in the All-Star Game since Perez and Eric Hosmer each homered in the 2016 All-Star Game in San Diego…Salvy now has 3 hits in the Midsummer Classic, 2nd most in franchise history behind Brett (7)…this season marks Perez’s eighth All-Star selection, which also rank 2nd in Royals history behind Brett’s 13 All-Star selections.

TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP JORDAN LYLES (1-11, 6.42)

JORDAN LYLES is making his 18th start of the season and 339th appearance (232nd start) of his career tonight vs. the Tigers…he was originally selected by Houston in the 1st round (38th overall) of the 2008 Draft out of Hartsville High School (S.C.), and signed a two-year contract with the Royals on Dec. 28, 2022.

FINISHING ON A HIGH NOTE: He returned to the mound July 6 in Cleveland after missing 1 start with an illness, and did not factor into the decision of Kansas City’s 6-1 loss, in which he allowed just 1 run on 6 hits and no walks in 5.0 innings, with 5 strikeouts…the lone blemish came on a solo home run by Andrés Giménez to lead off the 2nd inning…Lyles retired his final seven hitters and exited in a 1-1 tie, before Amir Garrett surrendered 4 runs (2 ER) in the 6th in what proved to be the deciding frame.

The Royals have struggled to score when Lyles is on the mound, as they have plated 43 runs in his 17 starts (96.2 IP), and 16 of those came in a pair of outings on June 24 and May 4…his 4.00 run support average is the 5th lowest in the AL.

BACK IN THE WIN COLUMN: Lyles snapped a career-long 11-game losing streak on June 24 vs. Tampa Bay, as he guided the Royals to a 9-4 victory with 6.0 innings of 4-run ball, allowing a season-high-tying 8 hits and 1 walk with 2 strikeouts…the win snapped a run of 15 straight starts by Lyles in which the team lost to begin the season.

Entering play on June 24, the Rays held MLB’s highest winning percentage (.671), meaning Jordan earned his 1st win and snapped an 11-decision losing streak against the best team in baseball, becoming just the fifth pitcher since 1900 to accomplish that feat as a starter (see list to right), via Elias.

TROUBLE WITH THE LONG BALL: Lyles allowed at least 1 home run in 12 of his 17 starts in the 1st half for a total of 20 HR in 96.2 innings, which tied for the 5th most in the Majors, 3 behind Yusei Kikuchi and Lance Lynn (22)…he allowed multiple home runs in 7 of his 17 starts, but kept opponents in the yard in 2 of his last 4 starts, and didn’t allow multiple homers in any of his 6 starts since June.

THE ONE BAD INNING: Lyles has avoided the “One Bad Inning” trend in his last 3 starts, one that last struck 4 starts ago on June 13 vs. the Reds, when he allowed 5 runs in the 2nd…he’s allowed at least 3 runs in a single frame in 9 of his 17 starts (10 instances)…he’s been charged with 37 runs (35 ER) in those 10 frames for a 31.50 ERA, which accounts for more than half of the 69 earned runs he’s allowed this season… if you set aside those 10 frames, he owns a 3.53 ERA in his remaining 86.2 innings.

PLEADING THE 5TH: Lyles has pitched at least 5.0 innings in 15 of his 17 starts, and in those 15 starts, he’s allowed 38 earned runs through the 5th for a 4.56 ERA (75.0 IP)…but from the 6th inning on, he’s allowed 17 earned runs in 15.1 innings (9.98 ERA).

THE ROLLER COASTER: Lyles has begun his Royals career with a 1-11 record through 17 starts, recently snapping a career-worst losing streak on June 24…a troubling trend has emerged this season, as his struggles have come in the beginning and end of his outings, while he’s been solid in the middle innings…through his first 15 pitches, opponents have hit .351 (20-for-57) with 7 home runs, and from pitches 61 and up, opponents are batting .246 (31-for-126) with 11 doubles, 9 home runs and a triple…the good has come between pitches 16-60, when he has held opponents to a .230 average (44-for-191) with only 14 extra-base hits (4 HR) and 33 strikeouts.

His opponents’ OPS of 1.213 from pitches 1-15 is the 2nd highest in the Majors (min. 15 starts) behind Chicago’s Lucas Giolito (1.226) and his 12 extra-base hits allowed are tied for the Majors lead with Colorado’s Austin Gomber.

WORKHORSE: The Royals are the eighth club Lyles has pitched for during his 13- year career that has included stops with Houston (2011-13), Colorado (2014-17), San
Diego (2017-18), Milwaukee (2018-19), Pittsburgh (2019), Texas (2020-21), Baltimore (2022) and Kansas City (2023)…since the start of 2021, his 455.2 innings rank 4th in the AL behind Gerrit Cole (505.0 IP), José Berríos (477.1 IP) & Dylan Cease (457.1 IP).

Lyles was one of only four American League pitchers to record at least 175.0 innings in 2021 and 2022, along with Cole, Cole Irvin and Robbie Ray.

During his 13 seasons, he has only been placed on the IL five times: June 10-29, 2019 (left hamstring tightness), March 28-April 4, 2019 (right side discomfort), June 24-July 29, 2018 (right elbow inflammation), June 1-end of season, 2015 (sprained left big toe) and June 5-Aug. 6, 2014 (fractured left hand).

BIG CAT HUNTING: In 6 career outings (5 starts) vs. Detroit, Jordan is 1-2 with a 3.63 ERA (14 ER in 34.2 IP) and his teams are 2-4 in his 6 starts…he opposed Detroit nearly a month ago on June 19 at Comerica Park, where he did not factor into the decision despite registering a quality start—with 3 earned runs allowed in 6.0 innings—in a 6-4 Royals loss.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS: Lyles has been nothing if not a consistently strong defender, averaging less than 1 defensive miscue per season during his 13-year MLB career (12 errors, 1423.0 IP)…he has not committed an error since Sept. 22, 2020, and has made 82 errorless appearances (80 starts) since.

Jordan’s 450.2 innings without an error since the start of 2021 are the most among all big league pitchers, ahead of White Sox ace Lucas Giolito (452.2 IP, 31 chances) and Max Scherzer (419.1 IP, 48 chances), and he’s converted all 59 of his defensive chances during this stretch.