By MATT PIKE
Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal kept the Kansas City Royals bats from doing much, and a defensive miscue from center fielder Tyler Tolbert allowed Detroit to pull away on way to a 5-0 shutout at Kauffman Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
Skubal allowed just four hits across seven innings, two of those hits doubles to Maikel Garcia, and walked two batters while striking out four before handing things off to the bullpen which allowed no more hits over the final two innings.
After Royals starter Michael Wacha retired 11 of the first 13 batters he faced, with one runner on in the fifth inning and one out Zach McKinstry singled and then Jake Rogers hit a deep fly ball to center field that was misplayed by Tolbert and bounced off the base of the wall, allowing Rogers to get to third with a triple, scoring Spencer Torkelson and McKinstry. A double by Colt Keith drove in Rogers, and Keith came around to score on a single by Gleyber Torres.
Daniel Lynch took over in relief and got the final out of the inning. Kansas City held the Tigers off the scoreboard until the eighth inning, when the final run of the game scored on a passed ball by Royals catcher Luke Maile with the bases loaded, Riley Greene coming home to score.
Wacha took the loss, falling to 8-11 on the season, pitching 4 2/3 innings and giving up four runs on five hits with four strikeouts and one walk. At the plate, Garcia was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Michael Massey was 1-for-3, his one hit his first hit off of Skubal in his career.
Kansas City is off tomorrow and will host the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium. Michael Lorenzen (5-8, 4.62) takes the mound for the Royals while the Angels starter is listed as TBD. First pitch is at 6:40pm, pregame coverage beginning at 6 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
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