Witt hits tiebreaking sacrifice fly in 10th, Royals beat Tigers 4-3 to stop 6-game skid
Royals hang on for extra-innings win over Tigers
After a Bobby Witt Jr. sac fly in the top of the 10th, the Royals get out of the jam in the bottom of the inning to take home a 4-3 win over Detroit.
DETROIT -- — Bobby Witt Jr. hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the 10th inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 Sunday to stop a six-game losing streak.
With the score 3-3, Jonathan India's groundout off Tyler Holton (1-2) advanced automatic runner Drew Waters to third, and Witt hit a 280-foot fly to left. Waters scored headfirst ahead of Riley Greene's throw.
Carlos Estévez (1-0) intentionally walked Greene to put runners on the corners with two outs in the bottom half, then retired Dillon Dingler on a popup.
Kansas City went 2-8 on its trip and is 9-14. Detroit had won three straight.
Detroit left fielder Kerry Carpenter left the game after the eighth inning because of right hamstring soreness.
There were as many as 19 hits in a game with no extra-base hits for the first time since St. Louis beat the New York Mets on Sept. 4, 2012.
Tigers ace Tarik Skubal allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings, while Royals starter Michael Wacha gave up two runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 inning
Hunter Pasquantino and Drew Waters built a 2-0 lead with RBI singles in the second, but consecutive, two-out run-scoring singles by Carpenter and Zach McKinstry tied the score inthe fifth.
McKinstry's RBI single in the seventh ended Daniel Lynch IV's scoreless streak at 31 innings.
Mark Canha tied the score in the eighth with an RBI single after Witt reached second on a throwing error by third baseman Javier Báez.
With the bases loaded in the seventh, Salvador Perez scooped Greene's grounded and start an inning-ending 3-2-3 double play.
Skubal is 11-1 with a 1.96 ERA in 18 starts at home since the start of the 2024 season.
Royals: LHP Kris Bubic (2-1, 1.88) starts Tuesday homestand opener against Rockies RHP Ryan Feltner (0-1, 4.82).
Tigers: RHP Keider Montero (0-1, 9.00) starts Monday's series opener against Padres RHP Randy Vasquez (1-1. 1.74).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Regular Season Series
DET leads 3-1
Game Information
- Umpires:
- Home Plate Umpire - Ramon De Jesus
- First Base Umpire - Paul Clemons
- Second Base Umpire - Adrian Johnson
- Third Base Umpire - Quinn Wolcott
2025 American League Central Standings
Team | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Detroit | 13 | 9 | .591 | - | L1 |
Cleveland | 12 | 9 | .571 | 0.5 | W3 |
Kansas City | 9 | 14 | .391 | 4.5 | W1 |
Minnesota | 7 | 15 | .318 | 6 | L3 |
Chicago | 5 | 16 | .238 | 7.5 | W1 |