Michael Lorenzen continued his string of scoreless pitching in July, and the Detroit Tigers backed him with enough offense to defeat the host Kansas City Royals, 3-0 on Thursday.
The Tigers took three of the four games, giving them a 5-2 record on this road trip.
The Tigers pieced together a rally with two outs in the top of the second. Nick Maton singled to right and Akil Baddoo drew a rare walk off Royals starter Zack Greinke, who hasn’t walked more than two batters in any of his 19 starts this season.
Detroit’s Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, Andy Ibanez and Eric Haase, then delivered back-to-back RBI singles to stake the Tigers to a 2-0 lead. Ibanez finished 2-for-4.
The Tigers cashed in another run in the fifth against Royals reliever Austin Cox when Zach McKinstry ripped a triple into right field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Spencer Torkelson for a 3-0 lead.
Lorenzen (5-6) stretched his string of scoreless innings to 21 2/3 — the longest current streak in the majors. The right-hander allowed just three hits over seven innings, walking one and striking out seven before being relieved by Tyler Holton. Jason Foley closed out the game for his fourth save. Tigers pitchers gave up just four hits on the day.
The longest scoreless innings streak this season is 29 2/3, logged by Nathan Eovaldi of the Texas Rangers in April and May.
The 39-year-old Greinke (1-10) was pulled after facing 17 hitters, charged with two runs on four hits, striking out one and walking two.
Kansas City now takes off on a road trip for three games each against the New York Yankees and Cleveland Guardians. The Tigers return home for three games against the San Diego Padres, one against the San Francisco Giants, and three against the Los Angeles Angels.
–Field Level Media
