By MATT PIKE
Kyle Isbel made plays on both sides of the ball, hitting a walk-off single in the ninth and also making two excellent catches likely saving a run, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3 at Kauffman Stadium.
Spencer Torkelson's double-play grounder, drove in Riley Greene to put Detroit ahead in the second inning. In the bottom half of the inning though, Isaac Collins brought home Jac Caglianone after his two out double, with an RBI single in the bottom half of the innning to tie the game 1-1.
Detroit, which lost its fourth straight game, pulled back head in the sixth inning to a 3-1 lead thanks to back-to-back doubles by Wenceel Perez and Torkelson, driving in Dillon Dingler and Perez respectively. The Royals rallied in the eighth. Michael Massey doubled leading off against Kyle Finnegan and Isbel and Maikel Garcia hit consecutive RBI singles, scoring Massey and Isbel respectively to tie the game at 3-3.
In the top half of the eighth inning, to keep Kansas City wihin two runs, Isbel made a diving backhand catch in left-center to rob Pérez of an extra-base hit with a runner. Two pitches later, he made an inning-ending, over-the-head grab of Torkelson's drive just in front of the warning track.
Nick Loftin pinch hit for Massey and reached on a two-out double in the ninth inning against Brant Hurter. One batter later, Isbel sliced an opposite-field single past the glove of diving third baseman Kevin McGonigle and into left for his first career walk-off hit and the Royals' third walk-off win thus season. Kansas City improved to 6-1 in its City Connect uniforms.
Lucas Erceg earned the win, improving to 3-1 on the season. Erceg stranded two runners in the ninth inning when Colt Keith popped out as Detroit went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Erceg pitched one inning and gave up one hit and walked one in a scoreless inning of relief. Royals starter Kris Bubic allowed three runs, four hits and four walks in 5.2 innings, striking out five batters.
At the plate, Isbel was the lone Royals with multiple hits going 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Bobby Witt Jr was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, while Collins was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Kansas City and Detroit continue their series tomorrow. Michael Wacha (3-2, 3.05 ERA, 36K's) starts for the Royals against Burch Smith (0-1, 1.59 ERA, 16K's) for the Tigers. First pitch is at 6:10pm, with pregame at 5:30 on KFEQ (680AM/95.3FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.