DETROIT TIGERS NOTES:

TIGERS RALLY TO TAKE SERIES OPENER FROM ROYALS: Trailing 2-0 in the top of the eighth inning, the Tigers mounted a three-run rally and held on for a 3-2 win on Monday. Kerry Carpenter put Detroit on the scoreboard with a bases loaded walk, while Matt Vierling put the Tigers in front with a two-run double. Carpenter was on base three times, going 1×2 with two walks, while Akil Baddoo added two hits, including a double. Matt Manning started for the Tigers and threw 5.2 innings, giving up two unearned runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. Detroit’s bullpen combined for 3.1 scoreless innings with Brendan White picking up his second win of the season after throwing a scoreless two-thirds of an inning and Alex Lange striking out two in a perfect ninth for his 15th save.

KERRY STAYS HOT: Kerry Carpenter was on base three more times last night, going 1×2 with a RBI and two walks. Since being reinstated from the injured list on June 9, he is hitting .320/.374/.588 with three doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 20 RBI. Among qualified American League hitters in that span, he ranks eighth in slugging percentage, while he is ninth in OPS (.961) and tied for ninth in home runs.

MATTY V IN THE CLUTCH: Matt Vierling had the big blow in Detroit’s comeback victory last night, hitting a two-out, two-run double in the eighth inning to put the Tigers in front and snap an 0x14 skid. It marked Vierling’s fifth career go-ahead hit in the eighth inning-or-later and his second this season (other, April 3 at Houston). Since June 12, Vierling is batting .329/.406/.518 with three doubles, two triples, three home runs and 11 RBI.

MIGGY AGAINST THE ROYALS: Miguel Cabrera will look to continue his career success against the Royals in this week’s series. Entering tonight’s game, Cabrera is hitting .305/.379/.479 with 46 doubles, 35 home runs and 162 RBI in 236 games against Kansas City. Cabrera has 265 hits all-time against the Royals, which is the most among all players, two ahead of Rod Carew (263).

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: 2B David Smith (14th round), RHP Donye Evans (16th round) and RHP Blake Pivaroff (19th round). Additionally, the Tigers have agreed to terms with undrafted free agents RHP Carlos Lequerica from the University of Miami and RHP Luke Stofel from Wright State University. With today’s signings, the Tigers have now signed 10 of their 21 selections from the 2023 MLB Draft.

ON THE ROAD: The Tigers are 3-1 on their current seven-game road trip, which includes three games at Seattle (2-1) and four games at Kansas City (1-0). Detroit is 22-26 on the road this season, but is 10-5 in its last 15 games away from Comerica Park. The Tigers are hitting .219/.286/.359 as a team on the road, while the
pitching staff has a 4.19 ERA (416.2IP/194ER).

TIGERS AND ROYALS: The Tigers and Royals continue their third series of the season tonight. Detroit is 5-2 against Kansas City this year, including a 3-1 record at Kauffman Stadium. 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 16-11 against American League Central teams so far this season. The Tigers have won six of the eight series they have played against divisional foes.

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

29 Tarik Skubal • 0-0, 0.00 ERA (8.0IP/0ER)

• Skubal will make his third start of the season tonight at Kansas City.
• Made his most recent outing on July 9 against Toronto, throwing 4.0 scoreless innings with two hits allowed, two walks and five strikeouts.
• Enters tonight’s game having not allowed an earned run in his last five starts dating back July 21, 2022…over that stretch, has thrown 25.0 innings with 10 hits allowed, nine walks and 26 strikeouts.
• Has made nine appearances, including seven starts, in his career against Kansas City, posting a 1-6 record with a 4.60 ERA (45.0IP/23ER) and 42 strikeouts…in five career outings, including four starts, at Kauffman Stadium, Skubal has a 1-3 record with a 4.55 ERA (27.2IP/14ER) and 29 strikeouts.
• Made his season debut for Detroit on July 4 vs. Oakland, throwing 4.0 hitless innings with no walks and six strikeouts…his only baserunner came on a hit by pitch…marked his first start in the Majors since August 1, 2022 vs. Minnesota.
• Started 21 games for the Tigers last season and had a 7-8 record with a 3.52 ERA (117.2IP/46ER) and 117 strikeouts.
• Allowed just one walk to a lefthanded batter last season, becoming the 16th player to face 100-or-more batters in a season and allow one walk-or-less.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:

BULLPEN BREAKDOWN: The Royals blew a 2-0 lead in the 8th inning en route to a 3-2 loss to the Tigers last night at Kauffman Stadium, marking their Majors-most 33rd blown lead loss of the season…Freddy Fermin and Nick Pratto had RBI hits in the 4th to represent all of Kansas City’s offense, and the Royals held that lead into the 8th, thanks to 6.0 scoreless innings by starter Jordan Lyles and a scoreless 7th by Carlos Hernández… but Akil Baddoo doubled off Taylor Clarke to begin the 8th, and four straight Tigers reached with 2 outs, including a bases-loaded walk issued by Jose Cuas, and the go-ahead, 2-run double by Matt Vierling… the Royals had a runner at second base with no outs in both the 7th and 8th innings, but failed to score.

The Royals have lost 9 of 11 after starting July 2-0, falling to a season-high-tying 41 games under .500.

BLOWN LEADS: The Royals held a 2-0 lead into the 8th inning last night, when Detroit’s 3-run frame proved to be the difference in the game…the loss marked Kansas City’s Majors-most 33rd blown lead loss of the season, ahead of the White Sox (30), Athletics (30) and Cardinals (29)…it was also the Royals 4th loss of the season when leading after the 7th inning…the Royals 33 blown lead losses are only 3 shy of their total from all of last season, when they suffered 36 blown lead losses, and are 20 shy of the franchise record of 53, set during their 103-loss 2019 campaign…the Royals have held a lead in 45 of their last 66 games (68.2%) since the start of May, but they’re 20-46 (.303) during that stretch with 25 blown lead losses.

They’re 7-23 when scoring in the 1st inning and have lost 13 of their last 15 games when scoring in the 1st.

STARTING SOMETHING: In 5 games since the final game before the All-Star break, the Royals starting rotation has recorded a 2.32 ERA (8 ER in 31.0 IP), which ranks 5th in the Majors and 2nd in the American League… Royals starters have held opponents to a .221 average (25-for-113) during this 5-game stretch, with only 5 walks (1.5 BB/9) and 27 strikeouts (7.8 K/9)…despite the strong starts, the Royals are only 2-3 over the last 5 games.

During this 5-game stretch, Royals starting pitchers have thrown first-pitch strikes to 87 of 119 batters (73.1%), which marks a significant improvement on the staff’s 60.4% mark for the season, which ranks 23rd in the Majors…Seattle’s pitchers lead the Majors this season with a 64.1% first-pitch strike rate.

STEADY FREDDY: Freddy Fermin matched a career high with 3 hits last night, including a single in the 2nd (which snapped Matt Manning’s no-hit streak at 8.2 innings), an RBI single in the 4th (which broke the scoreless tie) and he beat out an infield single in the 7th…Freddy has 12 RBI in his last 15 games with an at-bat since June 18, a stretch in which he’s batting .367 (18-for-49) with 5 extra-base hits for a .510 slugging and .890 OPS.

Fermin made his Major League debut last year, but played in just 3 games with Kansas City…last offseason, he was named Most Valuable Player of the Venezuelan Winter League and was unanimously selected the league’s Rookie of the Year, after he led the league with a .404 batting average (67-for-166) and ranked 2nd in hits, on-base percentage (.482) and OPS (1.048) and 3rd in slugging percentage (.566).

Fermin, 28, originally signed with the Royals eight years ago in 2015 out of Venezuela, and in 2019 was named the organization’s Carlos Fortuna Award winner, an honor given annually to the Royals minor league player who is most dedicated to improving his English, genuine work ethic and conduct.

CLOSE CALLS: The Royals fell to 11-11 in 1-run games last night, marking their 22nd game decided by 1 run, which are tied for the 6th-fewest such games in the Majors this season…they are 17-40 (.298) in games decided by 3 runs or fewer…even though their 57 such games are tied for 18th in the Majors, their 40 such losses are the most in the Majors and 4 more than the Padres, who are 22-36 (.379) in games decided by 3 runs or fewer.

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), 40 of the 55 games between the Royals and Tigers (72.7%) have been decided by 3 runs or fewer, including 21 1-run games (38.2%)…through 7 games this season, the Royals and Tigers have played 6 games decided by 3 runs or fewer, including all 4 games here in KC.

DUAL THREAT: Bobby Witt Jr. went 0-for-4 last night to snap his 6-game extra-base hit streak, which was the longest by a Royal since Salvador Perez went 6 straight games with an extra-base hit from Sept. 11-18, 2020… Bobby’s streak 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…for the season, Witt Jr.’s 38 extra-base hits are the 2nd most among players 23 years or younger, trailing 22-year-old Corbin Carroll and his 41 extra-base hits.

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 95 team games, Bobby is on pace for 27 HR and 46 steals, a 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.

Witt Jr.’s 6 triples this season are tied with Ohtani for the Major League lead…his 12 career triples are tied with Brian McRae for the most by a Royal through a player’s first two Major League seasons.

In his last 46 games since May 23, Witt Jr. is batting .296 (53-for-179) with 20 XBH (.856 OPS) and 32 RBI.

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.

ROSTER MOVE: The Royals announced today that outfielder Edward Olivares has been reinstated from the Injured List, after missing the club’s last 6 games with a left oblique strain (he last played on July 7)…in a corresponding move, infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor was optioned to Triple-A Omaha.

SCORING CHANGE: Elias this morning announced a scoring change to last night’s game…in the bottom of the 4th inning, Kansas City scored 2 runs vs. Detroit pitcher Matt Manning, both of which were ruled unearned…this has now been changed to 1 earned run and 1 unearned run on Manning’s line

TONIGHT’S STARTERS: LHP DANIEL LYNCH (2-4, 4.18)
DANIEL LYNCH is making his 9th start of the year and 51st of his career tonight vs. the Tigers…it’s his 8th career start vs. Detroit…Lynch, 26, was selected by the Royals in the 1st round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Virginia.

Lynch was reinstated from the Injured List on May 28, after missing the first 53 games of the season due to a rotator cuff strain.

LACK OF SUPPORT LEADS TO LOSS IN CLEVELAND: Lynch picked up his 4th loss of the season on July 7 in Cleveland—his final start of the 1st half—despite recording his 4th quality start of the year with 6.0 innings of 3-run ball, as he scattered 6 hits (1 home run) and 1 walk with 3 strikeouts in an eventual 3-0 shutout loss at
Progressive Field…the Guardians plated a run in the 1st inning on a 1-out single by Josh Naylor, and Lynch proceeded to retire the next eight batters he faced through the 3rd inning…Naylor led off the 4th with a single and Josh Bell tagged Daniel for a 2-run home run that added to the deficit, but from that point on, Lynch held the Guardians scoreless through 3.0 more innings, scattering just 2 hits, while Carlos Hernández and Jonathan Heasley each spun 1-2-3 frames to close the game out.

The Royals offense has struggled to support Daniel in his 8 starts, as they have mustered just 14 runs of support, including 5 runs 2 starts ago on July 1.

This marked the 50th start of Lynch’s young career, making him the 52nd pitcher in club history to reach that threshold, and just the 17th left hander.

He’s completed at least 5.0 innings in each of his 8 starts, 1 shy of matching Jordan Lyles (May 20-last night) for the longest streak by a Royal this season.

PITCHER OF THE MONTH: Daniel was named the Royals Pitcher of the Month for June after posting a 4.06 ERA (14 ER in a team-high 31.0 IP), including covering at least 6.0 innings in each of his final 4 starts to close out the month…this marked his first career Royals Pitcher of the Month honor.

SOUTHPAW STORY: Lynch has faced 1,111 batters in his 50 career starts, but only 141 of them have been left-handed batters (12.7%), a group that he held in check through his first 33 starts, in which lefties were 11-for-61 (.180) with only 2 extra-base hits for a .246 slugging percentage…the tide has turned in his last 17 starts, during which left handers have gone 24-for-62 (.387) with 5 extra-base hits for a .924 OPS…however, he has faced a total of 14 left-handed hitters since June 10.

Daniel hasn’t faced a left-handed batter in 15 of 50 career starts (30.0%).

Only 2 of the 37 home runs he’s allowed have been hit by lefties: Boston’s Alex Verdugo on Aug. 6, 2022 and Minnesota’s Nick Gordon on Sept. 15, 2022.

On the other hand, right handers are hitting .282 (244-for-866) with 35 HR in his career, including a .287 clip (135-for-470) and 19 HR last year…but through 8 starts this season, he’s held righties to a .218 average (34-for-156) with 7 HR.

SEEKING SUPPORT: Lynch ended last season with 11 consecutive winless starts, in which he went 0-6 with a 5.73 ERA (35 ER in 55.0 IP) and received only 22 runs of support, for an average of 3.60 runs per 9.0 innings…despite winning 2 of his last 4 starts, the poor run support trend has continued in 2023, in which he’s 2-4 in 8 starts with 14 runs of support in his 47.1 innings of work.

FIRST THING’S FIRST: He allowed 79 runs in 27 starts (131.2 IP) last year, and 19 of those runs came in the 1st inning (24.1%)…this trend was an improvement from 2021, when he allowed 20 1st-inning runs in 15 starts, accounting for 43.5% of the 46 runs he allowed for the season…his 1st-inning woes have showed up just twice in his 8 starts this season, most recently in his last start on July 7 in Cleveland, where he allowed a 1-out RBI single to Josh Naylor…of the 149 runs he’s allowed
in 50 career starts, 46 have come in the 1st, in which he has a 7.61 ERA (42 ER in 49.2 IP)…from the 2nd inning on, he owns a 4.49 ERA (98 ER in 196.1 IP).

BIG CAT HUNTING: Lynch is 2-3 with a 4.21 ERA (17 ER in 36.1 IP) and an opponents’ average of .273 (39-for-143) across 7 starts…4 of his 7 career starts against them came last year, as he went 0-2 (KC went 1-3) with a 6.75 ERA (14 ER in 18.2 IP)…however, his most recent outing against them came on June 20 of this year when he picked up his 1st win of the year with 7.0 innings of 1-hit ball as the Royals shutout Detroit, 1-0, at Comerica Park.

TIME FOR A LITTLE HOME COOKIN’: Daniel earned the victory in his most recent start at The K on July 1 vs. the Dodgers, snapping a stretch in which he went 0-7 with a 6.36 ERA (49 ER in 69.1 IP) across 14 starts at home, and trailed only Ian Kennedy (18 winless starts at home, Aug. 31, 2016-Sept. 8, 2017) for the longest home losing streak by a Royal…he has never won consecutive starts at home in his career, but he does have a 2-game, 3-start winning streak that spanned from July 25-Aug. 17, 2021, his 3rd-5th career starts at Kauffman Stadium.