For a brief moment, it looked as though the Royals’ offense would carry all their momentum from Tuesday’s late-inning comeback into Wednesday night’s game at Comerica Park.
But after the Royals scored two runs in the first inning, Casey Mize made sure to squash any hope of that. The Tigers starter completely shut the Royals down from the second to the sixth inning, and the Tigers’ bullpen did the rest in the Royals’ 4-2 loss.
Kansas City has now hit double digits in its losing streak, and the 10th loss on Wednesday guarantees a series loss in Detroit to open this seven-game road trip. The last time the Royals lost 10 straight was from March 31-April 11, 2019.
The Royals took advantage of Whit Merrifield’s hit-by-pitch and Carlos Santana’s walk in the top of the first, scoring two on Salvador Perez’s double and Andrew Benintendi’s sacrifice fly. But then Mize and the Tigers’ bullpen allowed just two hits after the first inning.
In the sixth, the Royals got two on base with nobody out, but Mize needed just two pitches to get out of the inning: Jorge Soler grounded into a double play, and Benintendi lined out to left field.
Danny Duffy was good but not brilliant, and it seems as though the Royals need a stellar pitching performance to break out of this funk. Duffy allowed four runs on seven hits, with eight strikeouts and two walks in six innings.
