Only once did Detroit get a runner as far as second base in a game that lasted a tidy, 2 hours, 17 minutes.
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In what had seemed would be an inevitable rained-out, rain-delayed, or rain-shortened day at Comerica Park, the Tigers instead lost, 1-0, on Tuesday as Kansas City’s staff bested some nice nine-inning work by Matthew Boyd, Alex Wilson, Daniel Stumpf, and Drew VerHagen.
The Tigers got only three hits, all singles, and only once — in the eighth — got a runner as far as second base in a game that lasted a tidy, 2 hours, 17 minutes.
The Royals needed a break to score the game’s only run.
BOX SCORE: Royals 1, Tigers 0
Leading off the second, Cheslor Cuthbert poked an opposite-field, pop fly far over the head of Miguel Cabrera at first for a chalk-line hit Cuthbert turned into a hustling double.
Cabrera dropped the ball as he picked it up, but Cuthbert was securely en route to second and no error was charged.
Cuthbert then moved to third on Paulo Orlando’s deep fly to center. He scored on Jorge Soler’s line-drive sacrifice fly to center-fielder Leonys Martin.
Boyd was strong in his six innings and 88 pitches: four hits, no walks, one strikeout. He gave up some loud, deep outs early, but was generally ahead of hitters and pitched sturdily in his first start of the year.
The Tigers got a single respectable scoring chance against the Royals in the eighth when Mikie Mahtook led off with a single. He moved to second when Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire had him running with one out and a 1-1 count on Dixon Machado, who grounded hard to shortstop.
That left it up to Martin, who was out on a fly ball to left field.
Kelvin Herrera arrived for the Tigers’ ninth and put away the Tigers in order: Jeimer Candelario on a strikeout, Cabrera on a liner to right, and Nick Castellanos on a game-ending whiff.
It was the Royals’ first victory of 2018. The Tigers slipped to 1-4.
