Detroit (May 13) - No wasting of a good pitching effort on this night.
The Tigers pitchers had a rare stinker, and the Kansas City Royals jumped all over them en route to a convincing 11-6 win at Tiger Stadium.
The Tigers (11-15) lost their third straight and fell to 4-4 on their homestand, which wraps up tomorrow.
By the sixth inning, the Royals led 10-1 and at the end of the night, the Tigers' team ERA jumped from 3.68 to 3.95.
Lerrin LaGrow (1-5) lasted just 2.1 innings, giving up five runs on seven hits. Dave Lemanczyk and Tom Walker didn't do much to stop the bleeding in relief.
Meanwhile, Al Fitzmorris went seven innings, and even though the Tigers eventually got to him and then roughed up reliever Lindy McDaniel in scoring five runs in the final three innings, it was too little, too late.
"We fought to the last out," manager Ralph Houk said. "But the hole was too deep."
It was deep because the Royals scored three times in the third inning, all on a home run by Detroit's own John Mayberry, and then four runs in the sixth, punctuated by a two-out, two-run single by DH Tony Solaita.
Strangely enough, the Tigers rapped out three triples, the second time they've done that this season. Prior to that, the Tigers hadn't hit three triples in a game since 1971.
Mayberry's three-run homer got the Royals going
Ron LeFlore had one of those triples among his three hits. Leon Roberts had three hits and two RBI.
The Royals registered 16 hits; the Tigers had 14, but were far less efficient. They continue to be the worst team in the big leagues when it comes to base hits per runs scored (244/91).
"That's a lot of men left on base," Houk said.
LaGrow tried to take the blame for the loss.
"If I hadn't stunk up the joint, the game wouldn't have gotten out of hand," the right-hander said. "I let the team down tonight."
Houk didn't agree. "Lerrin wasn't sharp, but we had a lot of time to get back into the game and we didn't score until it was too late."
Notes: SS Tom Veryzer took the day off with soreness in his left ankle. Veryzer (.350) was replaced by veteran Gene Michael, who went 1-for-4...The Tigers, after Aurelio Rodriguez was caught stealing, are now 6-for-18 in attempts this season...Nate Colbert had one of the Tigers' triples, but for the second straight night declined to talk to the media after the game...Houk said that he was looking forward to the team's upcoming nine-game road trip. "I think it's time we get away from home and bond. It will be our first extended trip of the year."
**************************************************************************
Tigers record: 11-15 (actual 13-13)
Home: 6-11
Away: 5-4
No comments:
Post a Comment