Grossman, Tigers recover to hand Royals 9th straight loss

DETROIT (AP) — Robbie Grossman singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Detroit Tigers, after squandering a seven-run lead late, recovered to beat the skidding Kansas City Royals 8-7 on Tuesday night.

Grossman had five RBIs for the first time in his career, sending the Royals to their ninth straight loss. He ripped a two-out single off Scott Barlow (1-1) in the ninth to score Niko Goodrum.

The dramatic win masked a horrendous collapse for the major league-worst Tigers, who led 7-0 with two outs in the eighth. But then Jorge Soler homered and drove in six runs over the final two innings as Kansas City rallied to spoil a great start by Matthew Boyd.

The left-hander pitched six scoreless innings for Detroit, striking out five and walking two. The outing brought his ERA down to 1.94 after he exited his previous start April 29 with a left knee injury.

The meltdown began for the Tigers in the eighth when struggling former closer Joe Jimenez walked two batters with a seven-run lead to set up Soler’s three-run homer.

That seemed harmless enough until the ninth, when Ryan O’Hearn hit an RBI single.

Two batters later, Goodrum committed an error at shortstop on what would have been a game-ending grounder. Soler then drove a ball to deep center field that Akil Baddoo nearly snatched to end the game.

Instead, it went for a three-run double that tied it at 7.

Goodrum was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the ninth and Baddoo walked, reaching base for the fifth time.

Grossman pulled a 1-2 fastball through the infield to win it.

Gregory Soto (3-1) got one out after Jose Cisnero allowed three runs in the top of the ninth.

The Tigers scored six or more runs for the fifth time in the last six games. That comes after a run of 17 straight games with five...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Grossman-Tigers-recover-to-hand-Royals-9th-16170128.php