Francisco Liriano left last night’s game after 7 strong innings of work; allowing just 1 run. Liriano began the 8th inning for the Tigers, but allowed a walk to the leadoff man Cheslor Cuthbert. Manager Ron Gardenhire turned to Daniel Stumpf, who allowed a single to John Jay, got Lucas Duda to fly out, then gave up a single to Alex Gordon to load the bases. Gardenhire had seen enough, and turned to Joe Jimenez who promptly uncorked a wild pitch that scored Cuthbert. Jimenez would then intentionally walk Alcides Escobar to re-load the bases and set up a force at any base. Whit Merrifield would hit a sacrifice fly to score another run, followed up by a sharp 2 run single by Jorge Soler, before Jimenez would finally be able to escape the inning.
A perfect ninth inning by Kansas City closer would seal the 4-2 win for the Royals.
JaCoby Jones paced the Tigers offensively with his 2 run double in the top of the 8th.
The Tigers will face the Royals in a late afternoon game today from Kaufmann Stadium in Kansas City. First pitch is scheduled for 4:15pm and can be heard LIVE on Jackson ESPN 101.9fm