The Detroit Tigers walked five times.
But they also managed just two hits in Tuesday’s 1-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals in the second of three games in the series at Comerica Park, as left-hander Daniel Lynch, making his fifth start this season, pitched seven scoreless innings.
The first hit for the Tigers (31-41) came from Andy Ibáñez, a pure contact hitter who sent Lynch’s first-pitch changeup on the ground and into center with one out in the fourth.
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The Royals, who have the worst record in the American League Central, scored the only run of the game in the sixth inning off right-hander Michael Lorenzen. Maikel Garcia hit a single, advanced to second base on a wild pitch and scored on Matt Beaty’s double into the right-field corner off a changeup for a 1-0 lead that stuck.
Lynch, who entered Tuesday with an 0-3 record and a 5.79 ERA, allowed just one hit, two walks and picked up two strikeouts. He threw 47 of 78 pitches for strikes and held the Tigers to an 87 mph exit velocity on 19 balls in play.
The Royals went to left-handed reliever Aroldis Chapman in the eighth inning. He walked Cabrera and pinch-hitter Matt Vierling to put runners on first and second base. A wild pitch advanced both runners into scoring position, Zack Short then worked a walk to load the bases with two outs.
Chapman escaped by getting Spencer Torkelson to ground into a forceout.
Right-hander Scott Barlow took over for the ninth inning.
Ibáñez grounded out, but Javier Báez kept the opportunity for a comeback alive with a two-strike double off Barlow’s changeup. Pinch-hitter Kerry Carpenter grounded out, which advanced Báez to third base, and pinch-hitter Zach McKinstry struck out swinging to end the one-run game.
Wobbling and bobbing in the field
In his 12th start, Lorenzen allowed one run on six hits, three hits and seven strikeouts across six innings. Two of those hits, both put in play towards third baseman Jonathan Schoop, could have been ruled errors.
The Tigers’ defense, specifically Schoop, didn’t help Lorenzen.
But Lorenzen stayed calm amid those mistakes and kept the Royals from scoring until the sixth, working around flubs from Schoop in the first and fourth innings.
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After Schoop’s first-inning miscue, Nick Pratto tried scoring on a two-out single from Maikel Garcia. The ball deflected off the glove of second baseman Zack Short. Instead of panicking, Short stayed focused on the ball, picked it up and threw it to catcher Jake Rogers, getting Pratto at home for the third out.
After Schoop’s fourth-inning mistake, Lorenzen retired the next two batters — Nicky Lopez (strikeout) and Drew Waters (flyout) — to strand runners on first and second base. He struck out Lopez on four pitches.
The Royals didn’t score until the sixth inning.
Lorenzen, who threw 58 of 93 pitches for strikes, generated 13 whiffs with five four-seam fastballs, five changeups, two sliders and one sweeper. He added 16 called strikes and limited the Royals to an 87.7 mph exit velocity on 16 balls in play.
Bullpen backs it up
Left-hander Chasen Shreve and right-hander José Cisnero were dominant coming out of the Tigers’ bullpen to cover the final three innings. The pair of relievers delivered three scoreless innings.
But the Tigers’ offense failed to provide run support. In the sixth, Torkelson grounded into an inning-ending double play — hitting the ball 10 feet back to Lynch — after Short’s one-out walk.
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The Tigers finished 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, all in the final two innings against Chapman and Barlow.
Barlow recorded his eighth save.
Contact Evan Petzold at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers muster just two hits, fall to Kansas City, 1-0