KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Manager Ned Yost was second guessing
himself after the Kansas City Royals’ 4-3 loss Wednesday night to
the Detroit Tigers.
The Royals have lost seven straight, including their first six
games at Kauffman Stadium, the most consecutive home losses in
franchise history to start a season. The Royals lost their first
five at home in 1993.
Prince Fielder drove in the go-ahead run with two out in the
seventh with a single off left-handed reliever Jose Mijares. After
Gerald Laird scored and Miguel Cabrera advanced to second on a wild
pitch, Yost opted to pitch to Fielder instead of walking him
intentionally.
“The first time it was just a good case of hitting,” Yost said
of Cabrera’s single to beat a shift. “The second time was pure
stupidity on my part, plain and simple that’s what it was. After
the wild pitch, they had a runner on second. I started to overthink
the situation. I know how aggressive Prince can be with runners in
scoring position. If we can expand a little bit, we might get him
to chase, hit into the shift.
“That was just a dumb decision. I should have just walked him
with the situation after the wild pitch. It might have been a
situation we got out of there 3-3. I take the blame on that, full
responsibility for just not being very smart.”
He had Louis Coleman warmed up in the bullpen to face Delmon
Young, who flied out to end the inning. But by the time Coleman
entered, it was too late as Fielder’s single proved to be the game
winner.
Royals left-hander Jonathan Sanchez, who was starting on three
days rest for only the fourth time in his career, pitched out of a
bases-loaded, no-out jam in the fourth. Fielder reached on
Sanchez’s error to start the inning. Delmon Young singled and Ryan
Raburn walked to load the bases. Sanchez retired Jhonny Peralta and
Brandon Inge on infield flies and Gerald Laird flied out to center.
Sanchez left after five innings and 97 pitches, giving up two
runs on four hits, while striking out three and walking three.
Peralta singled in the second for the first Detroit run, and
Fielder’s two-out fifth inning double to right-center scored the
other run off Sanchez.
Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his third save in four
chances. Valverde got Alcides Escobar, who hit a two-run homer in
the third, to ground into a game-ending double play.
“Sanchez did a nice job of getting us through five with the
lead,” Yost said. “We just kind of lost it in the seventh inning.
We just can’t catch a break. Escobar hits the ball hard down the
line, but they’re playing no doubles in that situation to end the
game. We’ll keep plugging away until we get it turned around.
“We tried to play the percentages on the shift, but when
they’ve got hitters of that caliber they work against the shift
sometimes. The percentages just didn’t come out in our favor.”
Max Scherzer (1-1), who had given up 10 runs on 13 hits and
three walks in 8 2-3 innings in his first two starts, held the
Royals to three runs on seven hits and one walk in six-plus
innings. Scherzer, an All-Big 12 selection while at Missouri,
lowered his earned run average from 10.38 to 7.98.
The dugouts and bullpens emptied briefly in the bottom of the
seventh when Quintero was hit by Scherzer’s pitch to lead off the
inning. Laird had words with Quintero after he threw his bat at the
catcher’s feet before going to first base, which led to the players
streaming onto the field. Words were exchanged, but no punches.