Tigers beat Royals again, putting teams into virtual tie for first place
DETROIT -- For the last month, the Detroit Tigers have been the ones chasing the Kansas City Royals.
This week, though, it is starting to become clear which team is used to the pressure of a pennant race, and which one is doing it for the first time.
Tuesday, the Royals made two important errors for the second straight night, then put together a series of ninth-inning managerial and mental blunders that let the Tigers close out a 4-2 win and put the teams into a virtual tie for first place.
"This is a huge series, and we've gotten two huge wins," said Max Scherzer, who picked up his 16th win. "That was like a playoff game out there -- I was fired up from my first pitch until my last one."
Detroit led 3-0 after two innings, thanks to a sacrifice fly from J.D. Martinez and a two-run homer by Rajai Davis, and Martinez added an insurance run in the fifth with his 20th homer of the season.
Still, it was only a two-run game when Joe Nathan came on to pitch the ninth, and the Royals got a huge break when Nori Aoki and Omar Infante beat out a pair of high-bouncing grounders to short.
That put the tying runs on base with no one out and MVP candidate Alex Gordon at the plate. Rookie Terrance Gore, who is only on the expanded roster because of his speed, ran for Infante at first while Nathan focused on Gordon.
Nathan thought he had Gordon on a pop-up behind first base, but the ball drifted into the stands as Victor Martinez waited vainly at the dugout railing. The count then went full before Gordon tipped a 3-2 slider into Alex Avila's glove for the first out.
"When he popped that ball up, I was praying that Victor had it, but once it went into the stands, I knew I had to get him again," Nathan said. "Once it got to 3-2, I wanted the slider, and that's what Alex called for. That turned out to be my best pitch of the night."
That's when the Royals fell apart. After Salvador Perez swung and missed at Nathan's first pitch, Yost sent Jarrod Dyson in to run at second base. Since Aoki is a very good runner himself, and didn't represent the tying run, the move was the equivalent of renting out advertising space on the scoreboard to announce that Dyson and Gore would be trying a double steal.
"I know that the guy on first can run like a deer, so when they put Dyson in for Aoki, it was pretty obvious that they were going to try to make something happen," said Ian Kinsler. "Joe bluffed over once, and I could tell that Dyson was going to be running, so I signaled for him to throw over again."
This time, Nathan used his best move, and Dyson was so startled that he fell over. Nathan flipped the ball to Kinsler for the easy tag and the second out of the inning.
"The first time, I just looked him back and faked the throw, but Ian saw something and signaled me to throw over," Nathan said. "I glanced over like I was just going through the motion, and then I gave a much bigger leg kick to make him think I was going home with it. We had him so far off the bag that the only way we wouldn't have gotten him was if I had thrown the ball away, but I stayed focused and made sure I got Ian the ball."
Two pitches later, with Gore running for second, Perez swung and missed at a pitch well outside the strike zone to end the game and tie the division.
"Obviously, everyone is conscious of the standings in September," Brad Ausmus said. "This is the team we are chasing, and we know this is a huge opportunity. But being tied for first place doesn't mean a thing once we set foot on the field for tomorrow's game."
The series finale is scheduled for 7:08 p.m. on FOX Sports Detroit, with Tigers Live starting at 6. Heavy rains are forecast from early afternoon until into the early hours of Thursday morning, but if they hold off, Rick Porcello (15-10) will face Royals ace James Shields (13-7).
