Royals’ bats bust out for 15 runs in rout of the Tigers

The offense was so contagious for the Royals that every player who stepped into the batter’s box either collected a hit or drove in a run. It truly was an outbreak that seemed to keep spreading throughout the visiting dugout for three hours.

The Royals scored four runs in the first inning, six in the eighth and scored in between as they collected season highs in runs and hits (19) on the way to a 15-3 win against the Detroit Tigers in front of an announced 19,500 on Star Wars Night at Comerica Park on Saturday.

The win evened their three-game series at one game apiece headed into Sunday’s finale.

The Royals also walked 10 times and blasted six extra-base hits. Third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez became the first Royals rookie with a four-hit game since Christian Colon in 2015. Alex Gordon’s five RBIs tied for his second-highest total in a game for his career.

“It’s always important to jump out there and set the tone a little bit,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “In games like this — yeah, it’s nice (to get an early lead), but you’ve still got to tack on. We tacked on in a big way all throughout the game, which was really fun to watch.”

The previous night against Tigers and starter Matthew Boyd, the offense scratched out two runs through the first eight innings and left the tying run on base in the ninth inning of a 4-3 loss.

Saturday, the Royals scored runs in four of the first five innings, including three multi-run innings to put the Tigers on their heels from the beginning and provide starting pitcher Homer Bailey plenty of cushion even if he had a longer than usual delay before taking the mound.

“You got and get hot, and then you sit there for a while,” Bailey said. “Then you gotta go get reheated up in a way. Sometimes that can be a little difficult, but I’ll take that ‘burden’ with that kind of run support any day.”

Bailey (3-3) shared a chuckle with reporters after his tongue-in-cheek remark about the burden of pitching with a lead and then said good-naturedly, “Man, just go talk to the offense. It was their day today.”

Bailey delivered a quality start and held the Tigers to two runs on seven hits and two walks across six innings. He struck out four, and both runs he allowed came on a third-inning two-run home run by Jeimer Candelario. Bailey has lasted six innings or more in four of his seven starts this season.

The Royals chased Tigers starter and new father Tyson Ross before the second inning ended. Ross’ wife gave birth to the couple’s first child on May 1, a baby boy. Because he’d gone on the paternity list, Ross hadn’t pitched in a game since a loss to the Boston Red Sox on April 24.

The Royals scored four first-inning runs on six hits, including a Gordon home run. Three batters into the outing, Gordon went the other way with an 0-1 pitch from Ross which kept going and carried over the left-field wall for his sixth home run of the season. (He had 22 in the past two seasons combined.)

“I usually don’t hit many oppo home runs,” Gordon said. “You never know, but I think the wind was kinda blowing out a little and helped me a little bit. It’s a good way to start the game. Yesterday, we got off to a bad start and today was a little bit better.”

Jorge Soler’s RBI single off the wall in deep center field drove in Hunter Dozier for the Royals’ third run, and Ryan O’Hearn’s ground ball through the left side of a shifted infield drove in Soler for the fourth run.

In the second inning, Adalberto Mondesi’s RBI triple — the Royals had an MLB-best 18 triples entering the day — gave them a five-run advantage and marked the end of the outing for Ross. Ross gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings.

O’Hearn’s doubled to start the third inning and scored on a Gutierrez double. Mondesi walked with the bases loaded to force in the second run of the inning and seventh of the game for the Royals.

After Candelario pulled the Tigers within five, 7-2, Whit Merrifield’s fifth-inning home run and a Gordon sacrifice to score Mondesi gave the Royals a 9-2 lead. The Royals scored six runs in the eighth on a Martin Maldonado bases-loaded walk, a Billy Hamilton ground-out and a Mondesi fielder’s choice. Gordon added a two-run single and scored on a Soler RBI single.

“I think up and down our lineup you just have to look at it personally, just never give at-bats away no matter what the score is,” Gordon said. “If you’re down, if you’re up, just be a professional, no matter what the score is. You’ve just got to lock in and do your job. That’s kind of what we did up and down the lineup.”

Royals reliever Jake Newberry gave up a solo home run to Ronnie Rodriguez in the eighth that got the Tigers to three runs.

Royals 15, Tigers 3

This story was originally published May 4, 2019 at 6:28 PM.

Lynn Worthy

The Kansas City Star

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Lynn Worthy covers the Kansas City Royals and Major League Baseball for The Star. A native of the Northeast, he’s covered high school, collegiate and professional sports for The Lowell Sun, Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, Allentown Morning Call and The Salt Lake Tribune. He’s won awards for sports features and sports columns.