How Royals showed gritty resilience in Sunday comeback victory at Detroit Tigers
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Royals rallied from behind with six-run third inning to beat Tigers 10-8.
- Bullpen trio Schreiber, Erceg and Estévez secured late-inning dominance.
- Royals improved to 28-14 in series finales with 13 wins in last 15 contests.
The Kansas City Royals are a tough out in a series finale. And the Detroit Tigers experienced that firsthand on Sunday afternoon.
Despite losing the series, the Royals ensured there wouldn’t be a Motor City sweep at Comerica Park. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino spearheaded a six-run third inning as the Royals batted around against Tigers starter Jack Flaherty.
Pasquantino belted his team-leading 28th home run that inning. Flaherty tried to sneak a 79 mph knuckle-curve past Pasquantino, but he was ready for it. The baseball traveled 429 feet into the right-field seats.
The Royals also got RBIs from Mike Yastrzemski, Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez and Adam Frazier in a 10-8 victory.
“We took that one,” Pasquantino said. “That’s what we needed to do. They wouldn’t go away, I mean, you are up 6-1 and that’s why they’re so good. That’s why you’ve got to tip your hat to them all the time. They are never out of it, the way they are able to string together things.
“But we did a nice job of responding and putting back up runs. And then, putting up zeroes at the end of the game.”
Yet, it was far from easy. The Royals (67-64) had to fight from behind in the late innings. It was reminiscent of an old-school American League Central showdown in which neither team relented.
The Tigers chased Royals starter Seth Lugo from the game early. The 2024 All-Star allowed six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.
Lugo has received 4.3 runs of support per nine innings this year. He got double that in terms of runs but wound up with a no-decision.
“I think winning is most important,” Lugo said. “It was a grinding game for everybody out there. And we pulled through.
“As far as myself, I obviously don’t want to give up that many runs. I want to pitch deeper in the game. I felt like I made some decent adjustments over the last couple of starts and it’s something to build off of.”
The Royals’ expansive lead dissipated in the middle innings. In the fourth, Lugo surrendered a bases-clearing double to Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones. The Tigers scored three more in the fifth.
Wenceel Perez hit a solo homer to cut the deficit to one run. Then, Dillon Dingler and Zack McKinstry gave the Tigers a 7-6 lead.
Left-handed specialist Angel Zerpa relieved Lugo. And the Royals continued to fight.
“These three games were very hard fought,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You know, they win the series. It feels a lot better to get this one today, and you’ve got to give these guys a lot of credit. I mean, they don’t break. They just keep fighting.”
Kyle Isbel regained the lead for KC with a two-run single. Then, Maikel Garcia atoned for a ball bouncing off his glove with a solo homer in the seventh.
“We did our job today and the pitchers fought today, too,” Garcia said. “That’s a team win today.”
The Royals relied on a bullpen quartet of John Schreiber, Lucas Erceg, Jonathan Bowlan and Carlos Estévez to close the door Sunday. Schreiber pitched arguably the most pivotal stretch, getting three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.
“Today, I just tried to stay as calm as possible,” Schreiber said. “Fill up the (strike) zone and make good pitches.”
The Royals are 28-14 in series finales this season. They have won 13 of their last 15 series finales, which includes a 11-game win streak in that span.
Bailey Falter injury update
The Royals placed left-hander Bailey Falter on the 15-day injured list with a left-bicep contusion on Saturday afternoon.
Falter labored through his relief appearance Friday night. He allowed four earned runs in two innings as the Royals fell 7-5 to the Tigers at Comerica Park.
It wasn’t his finest outing and he was drilled by a line drive in the seventh inning. Falter admitted that he felt some discomfort while on the mound. However, he steadily regained feeling while continuing to pitch.
“It was pretty numb, honestly,” Falter said. “But had to go out there and still pitch.”
Falter said his bicep is still tender and a little swollen, but he indicated that the medical treatment he received has helped ease the pain.
“We’re just waiting for the swelling to go down and then we’ll probably start back up with the throwing activity,” he said.
The Royals recalled right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan from Triple-A Omaha. He arrived on Saturday and was available to pitch on Sunday.
What’s ahead
The Royals continue their six-game road trip against the Chicago White Sox. KC will head to Rate Field for three games beginning on Monday night.
Rookie KC left-hander Noah Cameron (7-5, 2.53 ERA) will start Monday’s opener. He squares off against White Sox right-hander Shane Smith (3-7, 4.12 ERA).
Royals starters Michael Lorenzen and Ryan Bergert are set to follow Cameron. Lorenzen (5-8, 4.50 ERA) will start on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Bergert (1-1, 2.79 ERA) is slated to pitch in Wednesday’s finale.
The White Sox plan to counter with left-hander Martin Perez (1-3, 2.51 ERA) and veteran starter Aaron Civale (3-8, 5.02 ERA), respectively, to conclude the series.
This story was originally published August 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM.
