By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
Trailing entering the ninth inning, the Kansas City Royals got some late game heroics from outfielder MJ Melendez in a 3-2 win over the Tigers on Sunday.
Detroit took the lead off of starting pitcher Michael Wacha in the second inning on an RBI single from third baseman Gio Urshela scored left fielder Zach McKinstry. The lead would be extended in the fifth, a sacrifice fly from Matt Vierling scoring Javier Baez.
With the Royals trailing 2-0 entering the ninth inning, the Tigers brought on closer Shelby Miller. After Hunter Renfroe led the inning off with a single, Michael Massey who pinch hit for Paul DeJong would pop out to third base, but then Freddy Fermin would single.
With two runners on and two outs, after Adam Frazier pinch hitting for Garrett Hampson lined out to center field, the Royals would call on MJ Melendez to pinch hit for Dairon Blanco, and Melendez would answer blasting a three run home run to right field, giving the Royals the 3-2 lead.
Hunter Harvey, who blew a save situation on Saturday, would be brought in again by manager Matt Quatraro for the save, and would give up just one hit on way to his first save of the season.
Wacha pitched six innings and gave up two runs on seven hits, walking four batters and striking out two. Chris Stratton would earn the win in relief after pitching a scoreless eighth inning.
The Royals will now welcome the Boston Red Sox to Kansas City for a three game series starting on Monday. Brady Singer will start for the Royals, looking to follow up a July where he was 4-2 with a 2.27 ERA, while James Paxton will pitch for Boston.
First pitch on Monday is set for 7:10pm with a 6:30 pregame on KFEQ.