Ian Kennedy struggles again in Royals’ 6-5 loss to Tigers | The Kansas City Star

The winless streak commenced on Sept. 16, five days after Royals right-hander Ian Kennedy blanked the White Sox over six innings. It spanned a dozen of his starts since, interrupted by an injury and complemented by league-worst run support.

Some 262 days later, a three-run cushion wasn’t enough to halt it.

The Royals struck for an unlikely first-inning outburst to back Kennedy, only to watch it fade in a 6-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday at Kauffman Stadium.

Kennedy’s winless span has reached 13. The Royals (22-30) squandered an opportunity to win back-to-back series against fellow AL Central opponents, with Cleveland set to arrive in Kansas City on Friday.

“Physically, you feel good for the first time a month (or) three or four weeks, and then it just unravels in the third inning,” Kennedy said. “It’s not the way I pictured it.”

The Royals provided the early spark, and then nearly matched it late.

Cheslor Cuthbert grounded out with the potential tying run on second base in the eighth inning after Whit Merrifield lengthened his league-best hitting streak to 16 games.

Alex Gordon lined a one-out single through the infield in the ninth, but Alcides Escobar followed with a strikeout and Tigers closer Justin Wilson induced a game-ending pop-out from Lorenzo Cain.

Royals manager Ned Yost defended his decision to stick with Escobar, who had two hits to raise his average to .186, against the left-handed Wilson.

“Are you saying I should pinch-hit for Esky there? He’s got two hits tonight. He had two hits last night and a sacrifice fly,” Yost said. “He’s been swinging the bat better.”

The lack of a late-inning breakthrough wasted that early spark. A Royals team that accounted for just 11 first-inning runs in its initial 51 games crossed three over the plate in the opening frame.

Merely an hour later, the lead was gone, undone by extra-base hits and self-inflicted wounds that formulated the Tigers’ four-run third inning.

Kennedy walked three and unleashed 41 pitches in the decisive inning, which Tigers outfielder Justin Upton finished off with a two-run double before departing the game because of a leg injury. His second two-base hit in as many trips to the plate gave the Tigers a 5-3 lead. They never trailed again.

A day after Royals lefty Eric Skoglund transfigured his MLB debut into a standing ovation, a more-than-obligatory cap wave and a victory against power righty Justin Verlander, Kennedy, an 11-year veteran, strolled into the dugout for the final time Wednesday after only three innings. He walked three and gave up five runs.

“He just hit a wall,” Yost said. “He really started laboring.”

Kennedy (0-5) entered the night with the lowest run support in MLB this season, only 2.32 runs per start. The Royals surpassed that in their first opportunity.

Cain put the three-run rally in motion with a double. He scored on a Salvador Perez single. And after Merrifield worked a full-count walk, Cuthbert scored two on a single to left. Cuthbert got the start in place of Mike Moustakas with left-hander Matthew Boyd on the mound.

The Tigers responded almost immediately, ignited by Victor Martinez’s solo home run in the second inning. The hard hits multiplied in the third. Upton’s go-ahead double in the third was preceded by J.D. Martinez’s game-tying double.

In the span of 11 batters, the Tigers tagged Kennedy for four extra-base hits. Kennedy fell to 0-2 with a 12.60 earned run average in three starts since a hamstring strain necessitated a brief stint on the disabled list.

“I wish I could blame it on my leg, but my leg feels really good,” Kennedy said. “ … I put myself in those bad situations and beat myself. It’s frustrating.”

He wasn’t exactly outdueled on Wednesday. Both teams utilized their bullpens before the fourth inning was done, and both were effective. Boyd allowed four runs in 3  2/3 innings before Warwick Saupold settled the mound to earn his first victory of the season. Eric Hosmer singled against Boyd in the third for the 1,000th hit of his career. He’s the 11th Royal to reach the milestone.

The Royals bullpen combined to allow only one run in six innings.

“That’s exactly what you need (the bullpen) to do. You need them to hold the fort and hope the offense claws back in it,” Yost said. “The offense was clawing. We just came up one run short.”

Tigers 6, Royals 5

Detroit	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Romine 2b-3b	4	1	0	0	1	1	.238
Avila c	5	1	1	1	0	2	.313
Cabrera 1b	4	1	1	0	1	0	.260
V.Martinez dh	4	2	2	1	1	0	.269
J.Martinez rf	4	1	1	2	0	0	.271
Upton lf	2	0	2	2	0	0	.246
Mahtook pr-lf	2	0	1	0	0	0	.186
Castellanos 3b	4	0	1	0	0	1	.209
Machado 2b	0	0	0	0	0	0	.282
Presley cf	3	0	0	0	1	1	.222
Iglesias ss	4	0	1	0	0	1	.229
Totals	36	6	10	6	4	6

Kansas City	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	Avg.
Escobar ss	5	0	2	1	0	1	.186
Cain cf	5	1	1	0	0	1	.257
Hosmer 1b	4	1	2	0	0	1	.303
Perez dh	4	1	1	1	0	0	.262
Bonifacio rf	4	1	1	0	0	0	.273
Merrifield 2b	3	0	1	0	1	0	.294
Cuthbert 3b	4	1	2	2	0	0	.185
Butera c	4	0	0	0	0	2	.233
Gordon lf	4	0	1	0	0	0	.175
Totals	37	5	11	4	1	5

Detroit	014	100	000	—	6	10	0
Kansas City	300	100	010	—	5	11	1

Detroit	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Boyd	3 2/3	7	4	4	1	1	63	5.69
Saupld, W, 1-0	3	1	0	0	0	0	36	2.53
Greene	1/3	0	0	0	0	1	6	1.82
A. Wilson	1	2	1	1	0	1	28	1.88
J. Wilson, S, 5	1	1	0	0	0	2	14	2.86

Kansas City	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	NP	ERA
Kenndy, L, 0-5	3	4	5	5	3	4	74	5.12
Maness	1	4	1	1	0	0	19	4.32
Young	3	2	0	0	1	2	41	6.04
Strahm	2	0	0	0	0	0	15	4.91