Hunter Dozier’s homer lifts Kansas City Royals to victory, stops 5-game losing streak
The Kansas City Royals managed to nip the losing streak in the bud before it developed into something more significant and burdensome like an anvil they had to drag around.
They dealt with just that dynamic last season with two separate streaks of at least nine consecutive losses. With five in a row having gone against them entering Saturday, the Royals were anxious to get that monkey off their backs.
Royals designated hitter Hunter Dozier played a big part in snapping the five-game streak when he blasted his first home run of the season to break a tie in the sixth inning.
That two-run homer proved the difference in the game as the Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 3-1 in the third game of their-four game series in front of an announced 19,022 at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
“It was big,” Dozier said. “We needed this. I mean, anytime you can get a win (you want to), but we needed to break that losing streak. Pitching did a great job again today. So it was good to come through.”
Dozier went 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Andrew Benintendi collected two hits and a walk (2 for 3). Rookie infielder Bobby Witt Jr. recorded the first multi-hit game of his career. Salvador Perez also had an RBI.
“Something about today,” Dozier said. “I don’t know. You just feel like we’re going to do whatever we can to win this game, and we need more of that. And we’ll get more of it.”
Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic, who didn’t get through the first inning in his only other start this season, held the Tigers to one run in 4 1/3 innings. He maneuvered around baserunners for most of his outing. He allowed two hits and walked six.
Bubic felt like he had a good feel for his curveball and changeup at times, but his fastball command was an issue throughout the day. He said he realized even during his pregame bullpen session that he was “fighting it a little bit” with his fastball.
“I’ve said before that I’ve kind of pitched ugly games like that where you kind of just find a way,” Bubic said. “You just kind of dig deep down. Not to say you ever give in, but at the same time you just kind of don’t look at the line score and just keep that game right where it’s at.”
The Royals defense, which hasn’t committed an error through eight games (tied for a club record to begin a season), helped Bubic with a pair of double plays. Bubic also struck out four.
Perez’s RBI groundout gave the Royals (3-5) their first first-inning run of the season and a 1-0 lead.
The Tigers tied the score in the second inning with two outs. Daz Cameron walked, and he appeared to be picked off first base for the final out of the inning.
However, Bubic threw to first as Cameron broke for second. First baseman Carlos Santana’s throw to second beat the runner, but second baseman Nicky Lopez’s tag was not in time to get Cameron. Replay review upheld the safe call. The next batter, Dustin Garneau, belted an RBI double to the wall in left-center to make it 1-1.
The Royals came up empty despite putting the first two batters on base in both the second and third innings, so the score remained tied going into the fifth when Bubic ran into some trouble.
WIth one out, he walked back-to-back batters with Tigers No. 2 and No. 3 hitters, Jonathan Schoop and Jeimer Candelario, due up with two men on and just one out. Royals manager Mike Matheny turned to the rookie right-hander Collin Snider out of the bullpen.
“For me, I try every appearance the same,” Snider said. “Guys on base, scoreboard is nothing to me. It’s always zero-zero. It’s always you’ve got to come in ready to execute your pitches. Keeping that mindset all the time, no matter what the situation is, helps when I do and it’s kind of a little bit of a jam or a tight spot. Then it’s just what I’ve been doing.”
Snider, who made his major-league debut last weekend, got Schoop to pop up on the infield. Then he struck out Candelario swinging at a 2-2 slider to end the inning and strand both runners.
“Probably not the greatest recipe for success, but found a way to essentially get through it,” Bubic said. “The bullpen was huge, picking us up there. Snider coming and just leaving those runners where they were was huge.
“Defense was unbelievable, bailed me out a couple times. I guess it’s an improvement from last week, but at the same time it’s not something that is probably the most sustainable. But a win is a win. I’m just glad we were able to do that.”
In the sixth, Santana’s one-out walk brought Dozier to the plate with a man on, and Dozier smashed an 0-2 slider on the inner half of the plate for a two-run homer into the left-field stands.
The Royals bullpen contingent of Snider, Dylan Coleman, Scott Barlow and Josh Staumont (first save of the season) combined for 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.
“It’s great when you’re hearing them talk about things they need to be talking about,” Matheny said. “All of us taking ownership that we’ve got to right the ship. We’re playing good enough. We’re just missing some small things that make the big difference.
“We were in a tight game again today. We had to get the big hit. Fortunately, Doz was able to pull that off. It starts and ends with our pitching. Kris came in and did a nice job of keeping us in the game. The bullpen did an excellent job of getting him out of a mess and putting it away.”
The series continues on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:10 p.m. The Tigers list left-hander Tyler Alexander (0-0, 5.06) as their probable starter, while Carlos Hernández (0-0, 8.31) will start for the Royals.
This story was originally published April 16, 2022 at 6:20 PM.
