Detroit Tigers: Jordy Mercer walks it off to take first of four

The Detroit Tigers began a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals at home tonight and the first game ended in a walk-off from Mercer.

The Detroit Tigers began a four-game series at home against division rivals, the Kansas City Royals, tonight. The game was a slugfest that was tied 8-8 in the bottom of the ninth inning until Jordy Mercer took Richard Lovelady deep for his sixth home run of the year, ending the game and giving the Tigers a 10-8 win.

This was a great moment for Mercer, who has had a rough year so far. He has had to fight through injury, age, and declining numbers. Recently, however, Mercer has been hitting the ball well. He has pulled his average up to .245 and his OPS up to .709. His contract is set to expire at the end of the year, so he needs to continue performing well if he hopes to land a good contract.

This game did not go so well for Detroit’s ace, Matthew Boyd. Boyd only went 2.2 innings and gave up five earned runs. He was clearly having command issues, walking three in this short time and only striking out one. Boyd also gave up three home runs. The rest of the pitching staff held it down decently, only allowing three more runs to cross for the remainder of the game.

Detroit’s offense really had it going tonight, which was the saving grace for the Tigers. Travis Demeritte went 1-for-2 with three walks, three runs, and also a home run, which is his first as a major league player. Miguel Cabrera and Harold Castro both hit big home runs earlier in the game that made Mercer’s walk-off moment possible.

The second game of the series takes place tomorrow at 7:10 p.m. EST. Detroit has yet to announce their starting pitcher for the game. It also remains to be seen whether JaCoby Jones will be able to play after taking a fastball to the wrist in his second at-bat. Make sure to stay tuned for more information.