Detroit Tigers win pivotal game against Kansas City Royals 3-2

Sep 20, 2014; Kansas City, MO, USA; Detroit Tigers first baseman M. Cabrera (24) at bat in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Tigers beat  the Kansas City Royals 3-2 in a true pitchers duel with Max Scherzer coming out on top with the win over Kansas City ace, James Shields. Scherzer was sharp, giving up only one run on seven hits and one walk in his seven innings pitched. He was nearly charged with an unearned run in the sixth. With runners on second and third, Ian Kinsler caught a liner off the bat of Omar Infante and made a questionable throw, which was bobbled at second by Eugenio Suarez, allowing Sal Perez to score from third, or so it seemed. It was revealed upon review that Perez headed toward third on the catch, then broke for home on the bobble, without ever tagging third base. The Tigers threw to third after the bobble, which rendered Perez out and negated the run, which turned out to make all the difference in the game.

Joba Chamberlain and Joe Nathan pitched the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, and once again both made things heart stopping for Detroit Tigers’ fans. Chamberlain gave up two hits and a run that cut the Tigers’ lead to one, but stopped the bleeding there. It’s worth noting that while Chamberlain was struggling, Joakim Soria was warming up in the pen, many believed to pitch the ninth, however it was revealed he was warming in case Joba got into deeper trouble. Nathan pitched the ninth and gave up two hits with two strikes in the count, but did not allow a run to score, and he earned the save.

The Tigers offense had a slow start against Shields, though they did get on the board first with a solo home run from Torii Hunter. The Tigers took the lead in the seventh inning, starting with a J.D. Martinez single and then a two out walk to Suarez. Pinch hitter Tyler Collins singled, scoring Martinez, who had advanced along with Suarez on a wild pitch. Rajai Davis then singled to score Suarez and chase Shields from the game.

The Detroit Tigers look to finish their season series with the Royals by way of the sweep tomorrow afternoon at 2:10pm.