Keider Montero and four Detroit relievers held the Kansas City Royals in check, and the visiting Tigers scored on a third-inning wild pitch for a 1-0 victory Sunday.
Montero allowed seven hits and one walk over 4 2/3 innings, but the Royals couldn’t push a run across the plate against the young right-hander. Then Tyler Holton, Chase Lee (2-0), Tommy Kahnle and Will Vest (nine saves) combined to give up two hits without a walk to help the American League Central-leading Tigers take two of three in the series.
Detroit won 7-5 on Friday, then lost 1-0 on Saturday. But one run was more than enough Sunday against the Royals, who stranded eight men despite three hits from star Salvador Perez and two via rookie John Rave.
The Royals wasted another gem from Kris Bubic (5-3), who lowered his major-league-leading ERA to 1.43. Bubic allowed four hits with two walks and tied a career high with nine strikeouts while lasting seven innings for a third straight start.
However, Kansas City continued to struggle with providing run support. The Royals have been held to three runs or fewer in seven of Bubic’s 12 starts.
The Royals recorded three straight two-out singles in the first against Montero, including two of the infield variety. However, Kansas City failed to score after rookie Rave struck out looking with the bases loaded.
Two innings later, the Tigers managed the game’s lone run. Ninth-place hitter Zach McKinstry laced a triple into the right field corner. One out later, he came home on Bubic’s wild pitch.
According to FanDuel Sports Network, this was the first time the Royals played back-to-back 1-0 games where they and their opponent were each victorious once.
Kansas City, 2-5 against the Tigers in 2025, is 7-13 after winning 16 of 18.
Riley Greene had two hits for Detroit, which has won five consecutive road series.
Kansas City’s Maikel Garcia was scratched from Sunday’s lineup due to a sore thumb.
–Field Level Media
