Tigers Avoid Sweep In Kansas City, Comeback To Beat Royals 7-4

Aug 12, 2015; Kansas City, MO, USA; Detroit Tigers relief pitcher Bruce Rondon (43) celebrates after the game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Detroit won 7-4. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

The Kansas City Royals were previously 52-3 in games this season when leading after 6 innings. Now they are 52-4. The Detroit Tigers avoided the sweep and came back to beat the Royals 6-4 at The K.

The Tigers faced Edinson Volquez on Wednesday Night, and got to him early. They managed to manufacture a run in the first, after an Anthony Gose single got things rolling. A couple sacrifices and an error later, Gose crossed home plate to make it 1-0 Detroit.

The following inning, Tyler Collins began the inning with a lead-off double. The next batter, Nick Castellanos, made it 2-0 Tigers with a single to center.

That was pretty much it for a while, as Volquez was dealing. He completely shut down the Tigers offense after allowing a Victor Martinez single in the 3rd. He went on to retire 13 batters in a row.

Rookie Daniel Norris in the mean time made his third start for the Tigers since being traded from Toronto. He started solid by retiring the first six batters he faced, but ran into trouble in the 3rd. After a lead-off double to Alex Rios, Norris allowed a triple to Alcides Escobar which tied the game at two after a throwing error by Jose Iglesias.

The 4th inning was no picnic for Norris, either. After allowing back-to-back doubles to start the inning and giving the Royals the lead, they tacked on one more making the score 4-2.

Norris ended up having a solid remainder of the game until being pulled in the 7th. He finished the night going 6.1 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K’s over 96 pitches.

Volquez came out to start the 8th inning having only throwing 85 pitches and his consecutive retired batters streak still intact. But it didnt last long. He began by giving up a single to James McCann, a walk to Gose and a 10-foot infield dribbler by Iglesias, which loaded the bases for Ian Kinsler, who doubled down the left field line to tie the game 4-4.

That was the end of the day for Volquez. His final numbers were 7 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 5 K’s.

The Tigers werent finished in the inning once Kelvin Herrera came in for relief. Tyler Collins and J.D. Martinez added two more runs, making the score 6-4.

The final run of the game was scored on an RBI double by Victor Martinez in the 9th. Neftali Feliz got his second win of the year after coming in for relief for Norris.

Bruce Rondon did his best Todd Jones impersonation and gave Tigers fans a scare before recording the save.

The Tigers have Thursday off before heading to Houston to face the first place Astros. Alfredo Simon faces off against left phenom Dallas Keuchel at 8:10 EST at Minute Maid Park.