DETROIT — Kerry Carpenter hit a three-run homer in a five-run, seventh inning that lifted Detroit Tigers over Kansas 6-4 on Monday night and sent the Royals to their 12th loss in 13 games.
“We needed to start this homestand well, and coming back in that fashion was awesome,” Carpenter said.
Kansas City wasted a 4-0 lead and dropped to 0-15 in games started by Jordan Lyles, who allowed three runs and six hits in six-plus innings. He is 0-11, the most losses in the major leagues, and his 6.72 ERA is highest among 64 qualified pitches. Lyles broke the team record for winless starts at the start of a season, which had been set by Vida Blue in 1983.
“I thought I threw the ball pretty well, but we didn’t get the results at the end of the day,” Lyles said. “There were some ups and downs, which I feel like I’ve been saying after every start this year.”
Zach McKinstry started the comeback with a fifth-inning RBI double that went through left fielder Edward Olivares’s legs, allowing Jake Rogers to score from first.
Miguel Cabrera singled and Jonathan Schoop doubled, chasing Lyles in the seventh.
“There was no question in my mind that I wanted the seventh inning,” Lyles said. “At that point, I was thinking about eight. I made some good pitches to Miggy and he hit a soft liner to right and then Schoop worked me to 3-2. I had to come to him and he barreled it up.”
Rogers hit a two-run single off Taylor Clarke (1-1) that cut the deficit to 4-3, and Carpenter hit a two-out line drive down the right-field line for his sixth homer this season.
“That was Jordan’s inning, and we knew if he got a couple guys on, we had ready,” Royals manager Matt Quataro said of Clarke. “He has bailed us out of those situations before, and I was confident he could do it there too.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch thought the key moment of the inning might have been McKinstry’s one-out walk.
“That was huge,” he said.
Tyler Alexander (2-1) allowed one hit in two scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
“Their bullpen did a good job of shutting us down,” Quataro said. “We had a good chance with first and third and one out in the seven, but we couldn’t get anything.”
Alex Lange pitched the ninth for his 11th save in 13 chances, one day after allowing three runs without getting an out against Minnesota.
“He was great and he’s going to be great,” Hinch said. “Players in general, but back-end relievers in particular - you have to have a short memory, because the next day, you are going to need everything you’ve got.”
Bobby Witt Jr. led off the fourth with a 442-foot homer to left-center, Maikel Garcia added a two-run homer later and shortstop Zack Short’s throwing error allowed Nick Pratto to score from second on Witt’s infield single in the fifth.
EARLY FINISH
The game, which started at 6:40 p.m., ended at 9 p.m., 12 minutes before sunset in Detroit.
ONE MORE HOT STREAK
Cabrera went 2-for-4 and is hitting .395 with five RBIs and five runs scored in his last 12 games. He was hitting .169 before the hot stretch started with a 3-for-3 game on May 30 against the Texas Rangers. He is now 23 hits behind Tony Gwynn (3,141) for 21st place on the career list.
UP NEXT
Detroit RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-4, 4.23) starts Tuesday against Kansas City LHP Daniel Lynch (0-3, 5.79).
