Justin Verlander, Tigers rout Royals, increase AL Central lead
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Detroit Tigers' offense was as prolific as Justin Verlander was efficient.
The hitters provided the right-hander with a three-run advantage before he went to the mound. Then Verlander then put on a scoreless clinic in the park where he threw his first big-league shutout, as a rookie in 2006. He doesn't throw as hard as he did then, but he showed that's not necessary.
Verlander went 7 1/3 innings and allowed his only run in the eighth. He beat the Kansas City Royals, 10-1. The Tigers had 19 hits.
Had the Royals won, they would have taken over first place from the Tigers by a half-game. Instead the Tigers increased their lead in the AL Central on the Royals from a half-game to 1 ½ games in the opener of this three-game showdown series. If the Tigers take at least one of the remaining two games, they will be in first place entering their season-ending seven-game home stand against Chicago and Minnesota.
Seven innings had become a hard mark for Verlander to exceed. Not counting an eight-inning effort against depleted last-place Colorado, Verlander got an out in the eighth inning on Friday for the first time since May 30 at Seattle. It's only the fourth time this season he's gotten an out in the eighth.
Verlander exited with a runner on third and one out in the eighth. Evan Reed relieved and gave up a sacrifice fly, with the run charged to Verlander. The one run matched Verlander's lowest yield of the season. He threw 103 pitches, struck out four and didn't walk anyone.
The Royals are attempting to make the post-season for the first time since 1985. They have seldom contended since then, and this is their biggest series since '85. A sellout crowd of 37,945 filled up Kauffman Stadium for the opener of the three-game set.
The Tigers dismayed the throng with their early three-run outburst. They kept it quiet with single runs in the second and fourth, then totally ruined the night with a five-run fifth for a 10-0 lead. By the seventh inning, it appeared that at least half of the crowd had departed.
Verlander justified the belief of his first-year manager. In his pre-game news conference, Ausmus was asked why he thought Verlander would pitch well.
"Because I think he understands the enormity of the game," Ausmus said.
Royals left-hander Jason Vargas got ahead of Ian Kinsler, 0-2, to open the game. This can be said to be the last moment the Royals had the momentum. On a 1-2 pitch, Kinsler singled to center.
Torii Hunter flied to deep right and Kinsler took second. The next three Tigers hit safely. Cabrera hit a screamer to left-center on which Gold Glove left fielder Alex Gordon seemed ready to make a running catch. The ball got by Gordon for an RBI double.
When Victor Martinez singled to right, third-base coach Dave Clark sent Cabrera home. He slid in safely barely ahead of Salvador Perez's tag following the throw from right fielder Nori Aoki. The Royals didn't challenge the call by umpire Larry Vanover. It was Victor Martinez's 100th RBI.
Local unrest increased when J.D. Martinez singled Victor Martinez to second. Nick Castellanos flied to left, which meant Vargas could limit the damage to two runs if he could retire rookie shortstop Eugenio Suarez. On 1-2, Suarez lined an RBI single down the left-field line. Vargas fanned rookie catcher James McCann for the third out.
Nori Aoki singled with one out in the K.C. first, but Verlander got a double-play ball from the new No. 3 hitter, Lorenzo Cain.
Rajai Davis led off the second with a single and scored on Hunter's double to deep right-center. Vargas retired Cabrera and Victor Martinez to keep it 4-0.
What turned out to be the final key sequence arrived in the Royals' second. With one out, catcher Salvador Perez looped a single over Cabrera at first, and Eric Hosmer bounced a double well over Cabrera's head. So it was second and third with one out, and up came Verlander's career-long nemesis, Billy Butler.
Butler, with his .415 lifetime average off Verlander, got ahead 3-0. A walk would load the bases and bring up former Tiger Omar Infante as the potential tying run.
Butler swung at the 3-0 pitch -- something a hitter should do only if he sees a pitch in a part of the strike zone he has picked out. Butler flied out to right, and Perez couldn't tag up and score. Infante grounded out.
Before the Royals put another runner in scoring position, the Tigers had the 10-0 lead.
Kinsler knocked out Vargas by doubling home the 5-0 run in the fourth. Verlander dispatched Kansas City in the fourth with the help of his second double play of the night. The Tigers were in terrific shape going to the fifth -- up 5-0, and their starter hadn't thrown 50 pitches.
Then the Tigers doubled their lead in the fifth.
If there was most important at-bat of the inning, it was the one that produced the first run. With runners at second and third and none out, Castellanos fouled four two-strike pitches from Casey Coleman, then lined an RBI single. Suarez followed with his second run-scoring single of the game.
Right-hander Louis Coleman relieved Casey Coleman. McCann hit what looked like a double play ball, but second baseman Infante threw wildly to first, and Castellanos scored from second for an 8-0 lead. With two out, Kinsler launched a two-run homer right down the left-field line. That made it 10-0 and put Kinsler within a triple of his second career cycle. On his one remaining at-bat, Kinsler struck out.
To say Kinsler didn't get the cycle is to peform the difficult task of finding how the word "didn't" applied to anything the Tigers aimed to achieve tonight.
Lowe writes for the Detroit Free Press, a Gannett property
