Javier Baez’s three-run double in the 10th inning lifted the visiting Detroit Tigers to an 8-5 win over the Kansas City Royals on Monday evening.
Baez lined a first-pitch fastball from Scott Barlow (1-3) to the base of the left field bullpen fence, clearing the bases and breaking a 5-5 tie. It was Baez’s third hit as he snapped an 0-for-19 slump.
Four Tigers relievers provided 4 1/3 innings of hitless relief after the Royals forged a 5-5 tie in the fifth. Alex Lange (2-0) earned the win after a two-inning stint, and Jose Cisnero pitched the 10th for his first save since 2021.
Detroit has won five of seven extra-inning games.
Tigers starter Michael Lorenzen recovered from allowing consecutive first-inning home runs to face the minimum over the next three innings.
Lorenzen finished 5 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on five hits and two walks while striking out five.
Control issues plagued Royals starter Brady Singer as he walked four, including a bases-loaded free pass to Akil Baddoo to get the Tigers on the scoreboard in the first before Matt Vierling delivered a two-run single for an early 3-0 Detroit lead.
Vierling’s fourth homer, a two-run shot to left-center in the third, broke a 3-3 tie. Vierling added a seventh-inning single and matched a career high with four RBIs.
The Tigers forced Singer to throw 87 pitches over 3 2/3 innings. He surrendered five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts.
In the first inning, Kansas City’s Vinnie Pasquantino slammed a two-run homer 424 feet down the right field line, his ninth, and Salvador Perez tied the game two pitches later with his 11th home run, a solo shot to left-center. They were the first consecutive homers for the Royals since July 1.
Jackie Bradley Jr.’s two-run homer into the left field bullpen tied the game in the fifth. Bradley snapped an 0-for-26 slide with his first home run since Sept. 20.
The Royals have lost four straight and eight of 10. The Tigers had lost three of their previous four.
–Field Level Media
