DETROIT — Akil Baddoo and Parker Meadows hit consecutive homers to lead off a four-run eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 6-3 on Tuesday night.
Kansas City’s Zack Greinke pitched five shutout innings, and saw his winless streak grow to 22 games (19 starts) since a 6-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles on May 3. He has gone more than two years without a win on the road, losing 18 of 31 appearances.
The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the second when Nelson Velázquez reached on Olson’s throwing error, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Nick Pratto’s two-out base hit.
Both teams ran themselves out of early opportunities. Makiel Garcia and Parker Meadows led off the first with singles before being thrown out stealing, and Carson Kelly threw out Bobby Witt Jr. in the third.
Witt led off the fifth with a triple and scored on Salvador Perez’s single through the drawn-in infield.
Greinke retired 14 of the 15 batters he faced after Meadows’ lead-off single.
“We had a really tough time getting anything going against Zack — he’s so creative in everything he does,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “I think (Spencer Torkelson) has faced him seven times this season and gotten seven different first pitches.”
The Royals bullpen couldn’t hold the lead in the sixth. Anthony Veneziano, making his major league debut, walked Kelly with one out and second baseman Michael Massey misplayed Meadows’ ground ball.
“We wanted to give him a chance to win, and when we added the second run in the top of the sixth, we felt pretty good,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “But two runs isn’t insurmountable.”
Veneziano retired Matt Vierling, before Spencer Torkelson tied the game with a double down the left-field line.
Baddoo and Meadows gave the Tigers the lead against Taylor Clarke (3-6), and Vierling followed with a line drive to deep right center. Kyle Isbel made the catch as he hit the wall, but Andy Ibañez and Zach McKinstry added RBI singles later in the inning.
“I wanted to be aggressive and put a good swing on a pitch,” said Baddoo, who pinch hit for Kelly. “I was looking for a fastball, and if he threw one, I didn’t want to miss it.”
Jason Foley (3-3) worked an inning of relief and earned the win.
ONE DAY OFF
Miguel Cabrera said he plans to play in five of the six games on his last homestand, only taking Thursday afternoon off.
“It’s Miggy Weekend — he should play,” Hinch said. “I told our team, ‘If you want to honor him, win as many games as you can. That’s what makes him happy.’” NEW BRAIN TRUST
Tigers president Scott Harris introduced his new general manager, Jeff Greenberg, before the game. Harris and Greenberg worked together in the Cubs front office and plan to model the Detroit front office after the one run by Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.
“I think it’s awesome to have an additional voice and a new, fresh perspective,” Hinch said. “I’ve never worked in this type of structure, but it will be seamless for me. In one year, Scott has changed a lot of the faces of the organization and we’re going to be better for it.”
WATCHING HISTORY
Greinke retired Cabrera in the second and fifth innings — the 47th and 48th times the duo had faced each other. Cabrera finished with a .289 batting average, one homer and six RBIs.
“You look out there and see Zack pitching to Miggy with Sal (Perez) catching,” Quatraro said. “That’s probably three Hall of Famers in close proximity.”
UP NEXT
LHP Tarik Skubal (7-3, 2.95) will pitch for the Tigers on Wednesday. Kansas City has not named a starter.
