Kansas City Royals trump Detroit Tigers 8-1

It was a tough night in Kansas City for the Detroit Tigers on Thursday as they fell to the Royals 8-1. Detroit’s pitching struggled, as did the offense. And as we are all aware it’s difficult to win ballgames when that happens.

Alfredo Simon came into Thursday’s contest sitting on top of the world with a league-leading four wins, while Royals lefty Danny Duffy headed into the game with only one victory. But it was Duffy that ultimately walked away victorious.

Simon’s Final Line: 4.1 IP, 9 hits, 6 ER, 6 K’s

Duffy’s Final Line: 7.0 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, 7 K’s

The Tigers started things off with a minor threat in the top of the first inning after Miguel Cabrera was walked, then advanced to second by a Victor Martinez single. But the team came up empty handed after J.D. Martinez struck out to end the inning.

From there, all the action belonged to the Royals.

In the bottom of the third inning, with Simon on the mound, Mike Moustakas hit his sixth double of the year to score Alex Gordon. Then, with Moustakas on base Eric Hosmer crushed a two-run HR to center fielder, giving Kansas City a three-run lead.

A couple innings later, in the bottom of the fifth the horrors only worsened. DH Kendrys Morales ripped a double to score Lorenzo Cain. The parade of doubles continued as Salvador Perez knocked in Morales with a two-bagger of his own.

It was after five runs were given up that Brad Ausmus yanked Simon and sent reliever Alex Wilson to the hill. Wilson didn’t fare much better than Simon, giving up two more runs off of singles from Christian Colon and Alex Gordon.

The Tigers, after endless innings of tumult, eventually scored a run in the top of the eighth inning. Jose Iglesias hit a triple, then to be scored by a Rajai Davis single.

That was Detroit’s sole run Thursday evening.

Kyle Lobstein is taking the mound for Detroit on Friday while Chris young is starting for the Royals.