GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: DETROIT (71-61) at KANSAS CITY (58-72)

AL: DETROIT at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
DETROIT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
KANSAS CITY 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 5 8 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: DET - ANDREW MILLER, ZACH MINER (1ST), TIM BYRDAK (5TH), FERNANDO
RODNEY (7TH), BOBBY SEAY (8TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

KAN - ZACK GREINKE, RYAN BRAUN (5TH), JIMMY GOBBLE
(7TH), DAVID RISKE (7TH) AND JASON LARUE

HOME RUNS: DET - NONE

KAN - NONE</div>

 

AL: DETROIT at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
DETROIT 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
KANSAS CITY 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x 5 8 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: DET - ANDREW MILLER, ZACH MINER (1ST), TIM BYRDAK (5TH), FERNANDO
RODNEY (7TH), BOBBY SEAY (8TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ

KAN - ZACK GREINKE, RYAN BRAUN (5TH), JIMMY GOBBLE
(7TH), DAVID RISKE (7TH) AND JASON LARUE


WP - RYAN BRAUN (2-0)
LP - ANDREW MILLER (5-5)
SAVE - DAVID RISKE (4)

HOME RUNS: DET - NONE

KAN - NONE


TIME: 2:56 ATT: 11,628

PROBABLES: DET - JEREMY BONDERMAN (10-7, 4.87)
KAN - LEO NUNEZ (2-1, 3.00)</div>

 

AL: DETROIT at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">DETROIT (0) VS KANSAS CITY (5) - FINAL

DETROIT ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
C Granderson cf 3 0 0 0 0 1 1 .290
a-R Raburn ph-cf 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .333
P Polanco 2b 4 0 2 0 0 0 3 .341
M Thames lf 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .248
M Ordonez dh 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .356
C Guillen ss 4 0 0 0 0 3 2 .302
I Rodriguez c 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 .274
S Casey 1b 4 0 2 0 0 0 0 .280
T Perez rf 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 .267
B Inge 3b 3 0 0 0 1 2 5 .239

Totals 33 0 7 0 3 9 15

a-walked for C Granderson in the 7th.

BATTING: 2B - T Perez 2 (3, R Braun, Z Greinke). Runners left in scoring
position, 2 out - M Ordonez 1, C Guillen 1, P Polanco 2, B Inge 3. GIDP - C
Granderson. Team LOB - 9.

FIELDING: PB - I Rodriguez. DP: 3 (I Rodriguez-C Guillen, B Inge-P Polanco-S
Casey, C Guillen-P Polanco-S Casey).


KANSAS CITY ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D DeJesus cf 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 .275
E German 3b 4 1 1 1 0 1 4 .264
R Gload 1b 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .304
M Grudzielanek 2b 4 1 3 1 0 0 0 .312
B Butler dh 3 1 0 0 0 1 2 .291
E Brown rf 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .242
A Gordon 1b-3b 4 0 2 1 0 0 1 .247
T Pena Jr ss 4 0 1 2 0 1 1 .260
J Gathright lf 3 0 0 0 0 3 2 .338
J LaRue c 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 .140

Totals 29 5 8 5 3 6 13

BATTING: 2B - M Grudzielanek (28, Z Miner); A Gordon (29, B Seay). 3B - E
German (6, A Miller). RBI - E German (32), M Grudzielanek (44), A Gordon (46),
T Pena Jr 2 (40). Runners left in scoring position, 2 out - E German 2, T Pena
Jr 1, A Gordon 1. GIDP - E Brown, E German. Team LOB - 5.

BASERUNNING: Picked Off - A Gordon (2nd base, I Rodriguez).

FIELDING: DP: 1 (T Pena Jr-A Gordon).


----------------------------------------------------
DETROIT - 000 000 000 -- 0
KANSAS CITY - 500 000 00x -- 5
----------------------------------------------------

DETROIT ip h r er bb so hr era
A Miller (L, 5-5) 2/3 5 5 5 2 1 0 5.62
Z Miner 4 2 0 0 1 2 0 3.29
T Byrdak 1 1/3 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.93
F Rodney 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.99
B Seay 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.75

KANSAS CITY ip h r er bb so hr era
Z Greinke 4 5 0 0 0 5 0 4.07
R Braun (W, 2-0) 2 2/3 2 0 0 1 3 0 6.10
J Gobble 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.30
D Riske (S, 4) 2 1/3 0 0 0 1 1 0 2.39

J Gobble pitched to 1 batter in the 7th.

BALK - Z Greinke. HBP - D DeJesus (by A Miller); B Butler (by A Miller).
Pitches-strikes: A Miller 43-25; Z Miner 47-30; T Byrdak 13-8; F Rodney 12-8; B
Seay 20-13; Z Greinke 71-49; R Braun 35-22; J Gobble 4-0; D Riske 31-19. Ground
balls-fly balls: A Miller 0-0; Z Miner 8-2; T Byrdak 1-2; F Rodney 1-1; B Seay
2-0; Z Greinke 3-4; R Braun 4-1; J Gobble 0-0; D Riske 2-4. Batters faced: A
Miller 10; Z Miner 13; T Byrdak 4; F Rodney 3; B Seay 4; Z Greinke 17; R Braun
10; J Gobble 1; D Riske 8.

UMPIRES: HP--Eric Cooper. 1B--Andy Fletcher. 2B--Mike Reilly. 3B--Jeff
Kellogg.

T--2:56. Att--11,628.
Weather: 77 degrees, cloudy. Wind: 8 mph, left to
right.</div>

 

AL: DETROIT at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">** CONFIRMED **
AL
DETROIT 0
KANSAS CITY 5 FINAL</div>

 

AL: DETROIT at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DETROIT (0) AT KANSAS CITY (5) - HOW THEY SCORED
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

KANSAS CITY 1ST: D DeJesus hit by pitch. E German tripled to deep right,
D DeJesus scored. M Grudzielanek reached on infield single to shortstop,
E German scored. B Butler hit by pitch, M Grudzielanek to second. E Brown
singled to left, M Grudzielanek to third, B Butler to second. A Gordon singled
to right, M Grudzielanek scored, B Butler to third, E Brown to second.
T Pena Jr singled to right, B Butler and E Brown scored, A Gordon to second.
J Gathright struck out looking. A Gordon picked off second. J LaRue walked, T Pena Jr
to second. D DeJesus walked, T Pena Jr to third, J LaRue to second. Z Miner
relieved A Miller. E German grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop,
D DeJesus out at second. (5 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.</div>

 

AL: DETROIT at KANSAS CITY

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DETROIT (0) AT KANSAS CITY (5) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Detroit Starting Lineups -- C Granderson CF, P Polanco 2B, M Thames LF,
M Ordonez DH, C Guillen SS, I Rodriguez C, S Casey 1B, T Perez RF, B Inge 3B,
A Miller LHP.

Kansas City Starting Lineups -- D DeJesus CF, E German 3B, M Grudzielanek 2B,
B Butler DH, E Brown RF, A Gordon 1B, T Pena Jr SS, J Gathright LF, J LaRue C,
Z Greinke RHP.

Umpires -- Eric Cooper (HP), Andy Fletcher (1B), Mike Reilly (2B), Jeff Kellogg (3B).

Gametime Weather: 77 degrees, Cloudy, wind left to right at 8 mph.


DETROIT 1ST: C Granderson struck out swinging. P Polanco singled to
center. M Thames struck out looking. P Polanco to second on balk by
Z Greinke. M Ordonez struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0,
KANSAS CITY 0.

KANSAS CITY 1ST: D DeJesus hit by pitch. E German tripled to deep right,
D DeJesus scored. M Grudzielanek reached on infield single to shortstop,
E German scored. B Butler hit by pitch, M Grudzielanek to second. E Brown
singled to left, M Grudzielanek to third, B Butler to second. A Gordon singled
to right, M Grudzielanek scored, B Butler to third, E Brown to second. T Pena
Jr singled to right, B Butler and E Brown scored, A Gordon to second.
J Gathright struck out looking. A Gordon picked off second. J LaRue walked, T Pena Jr
to second. D DeJesus walked, T Pena Jr to third, J LaRue to second. Z Miner
relieved A Miller. E German grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop,
D DeJesus out at second. (5 Runs, 5 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.

DETROIT 2ND: C Guillen struck out swinging. I Rodriguez flied out to
center. S Casey singled to left. T Perez doubled to deep right, S Casey to
third. B Inge struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0,
KANSAS CITY 5.

KANSAS CITY 2ND: M Grudzielanek reached on infield single to second.
B Butler grounded into fielder's choice to third, M Grudzielanek out at second.
E Brown grounded into double play, third to second to first, B Butler out at
second.(0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.

DETROIT 3RD: C Granderson lined out to right. P Polanco singled to center.
M Thames singled to left, P Polanco to second. M Ordonez flied out to right.
C Guillen grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0,
KANSAS CITY 5.

KANSAS CITY 3RD: A Gordon grounded out to second. T Pena Jr struck out
looking. J Gathright struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0,
KANSAS CITY 5.

DETROIT 4TH: I Rodriguez grounded out to first. S Casey flied out to
center. T Perez grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0,
KANSAS CITY 5.

KANSAS CITY 4TH: J LaRue walked. D DeJesus flied out to center. E German
grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, J LaRue out at
second.(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.

DETROIT 5TH: R Braun relieved Z Greinke. B Inge walked. C Granderson
grounded into double play, shortstop to first, B Inge out at second. P Polanco
grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.

KANSAS CITY 5TH: M Grudzielanek doubled to deep right. B Butler grounded
out to third. E Brown fouled out to first. T Byrdak relieved Z Miner.
A Gordon popped out to shortstop. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0,
KANSAS CITY 5.

DETROIT 6TH: M Thames flied out to left. M Ordonez grounded out to third.
C Guillen struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0,
KANSAS CITY 5.

KANSAS CITY 6TH: T Pena Jr grounded out to shortstop. J Gathright struck
out swinging. J LaRue lined out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0,
KANSAS CITY 5.

DETROIT 7TH: I Rodriguez struck out swinging. S Casey singled to right.
T Perez doubled to deep right, S Casey to third. B Inge struck out swinging.
J Gobble relieved R Braun. R Raburn hit for C Granderson. R Raburn walked.
D Riske relieved J Gobble. P Polanco lined out to right. (0 Runs, 2 Hits,
0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.

KANSAS CITY 7TH: R Raburn in center field. F Rodney relieved T Byrdak.
D DeJesus fouled out to first. E German struck out swinging. M Grudzielanek
grounded out to first. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.

DETROIT 8TH: R Gload at first base. A Gordon at third base. M Thames flied
out to left. M Ordonez grounded out to second. C Guillen struck out swinging.
(0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.

KANSAS CITY 8TH: B Seay relieved F Rodney. B Butler struck out swinging.
E Brown grounded out to pitcher. A Gordon doubled to left. A Gordon to third on
passed ball by I Rodriguez. T Pena Jr grounded out to third. (0 Runs, 1 Hit,
0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.

DETROIT 9TH: I Rodriguez grounded out to third. S Casey flied out to
center. T Perez walked. T Perez to second on fielder's indifference. B Inge
flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) DETROIT 0, KANSAS CITY 5.</div>

 

Greinke sharp as Royals blank Tigers

<h3>KANSAS CITY 5, DETROIT 0</h3>By Alan Eskew
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Zack Greinke appears to bepitching his way into the Kansas City Royals rotation as theDetroit Tigers are sliding farther back in the playoff race.

Greinke combined with three relievers to toss a shutout as theRoyals scored five runs in the first inning en route to a 5-0triumph over the Tigers on Wednesday night.


Detroit (71-61) has now lost eight of its last 12, dropping 41/2 games behind the Cleveland Indians (75-57) in the AmericanLeague Central. That matches the farthest the Tigers have beenout of first this season.


Greinke, who was making his second start since May 6 beforegoing to the bullpen, registered five strikeouts over fourscoreless innings, coming out after 71 pitches. He gave up fivehits and walked none.


Since returning to the rotation, Greinke has thrown sevenscoreless innings, allowing six hits with seven strikeouts.

Tigers rookie lefthander Andrew Miller (5-5) faced 10 batters inthe first inning and nine reached base before he was pulled andreplaced by Zack Miner.


Miller gave up five runs on five hits, two walks and two hitbatters in two-thirds of an inning. Miller retired just one ascatcher Ivan Rodriguez picked Alex Gordon off second base forthe second out.


After a good start, Miller is winless since July 18, posting an0-2 record with an 11.57 ERA over five starts in that span.

Esteban German's triple to right scored David DeJesus, who washit by a Miller pitch to leadoff the game, to give the Royals anearly 1-0 lead.


The Royals then received run-producing singles by MarkGrudzielanek, who had three of their eight hits, and Gordon.Tony Pena Jr. followed with a single to score Billy Butler andEmil Brown before Miller retired a batter.


The Kansas City offense had no runs and just three hits afterMiller left, but the damage was already done.


Ryan Braun (2-0) worked 2 2/3 innings after Greinke left,allowing two hits and striking out three to pick up the victory.Braun got Curtis Granderson to ground into a double play forthe first time this season in his 513th at-bat in the fifthinning.


David Riske worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh andpitched the final 2 2/3 innings to log his fourth save.

 

Greinke sharp as Royals blank Tigers

<h3>KANSAS CITY 5, DETROIT 0</h3>By Alan Eskew
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer


KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Zack Greinke appears to bepitching his way into the Kansas City Royals rotation as theDetroit Tigers are sliding farther back in the playoff race.

Greinke combined with three relievers to toss a shutout as theRoyals scored five runs in the first inning off Miller en routeto a 5-0 triumph over the Tigers on Wednesday night.

"Starting is my preference," Greinke said. "I think if you area good starter you are more valuable than if you are a goodreliever."


Detroit (71-61) has lost eight of its last 12, dropping 4 1/2games behind the Cleveland Indians (75-57) in the AmericanLeague Central. That matches the farthest the Tigers have beenout of first this season.


"I don't worry so much about Cleveland," Tigers manager JimLeyland said. "We can make up four or five games in a hurry,but not if we're playing the way we're playing, pitching the waywe're pitching."


Greinke, who was making his second start since May 6 beforegoing to the bullpen, registered five strikeouts over fourinnings, coming out after 71 pitches. He gave up five hits andwalked none.


"I'm a lot more confident," Greinke said. "Before I felt if Imissed over the plate, it would be hit. Maybe I was pitchingscared. Maybe that's why they hit me because they could sensethat."


Since returning to the rotation, Greinke has thrown sevenscoreless innings, allowing six hits with seven strikeouts.

"He was real good against Cleveland (on Friday) and I thought hewas even better tonight," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "He'sfaced two pretty good teams.


While Greinke was superb, Miller, the Tigers' rookie lefthandedstarter, was anything but.


Miller (5-5) faced 10 batters in the first inning and ninereached base before he was pulled and replaced by Zack Miner.

"Andrew was trying to get by with one pitch, a fastball, andwhen he did get it over the plate it was whackable and theywhacked it," Leyland said. "We wanted to get him through thefirst inning, obviously, we wanted to get him five. He didn'tthrow anything for strikes but the fastball, maybe he threw onecurveball for a strike. He was bouncing his curveball.

"A one-pitch pitcher up here probably is coming out of thebullpen. They looked like they didn't have any respect foranything and they were just sitting on the fastball."

Miller gave up five runs on five hits, two walks and two hitbatters in two-thirds of an inning. Miller retired just one ascatcher Ivan Rodriguez picked Alex Gordon off second base forthe second out.


"When you put yourself in bad situations, bad things are goingto happen and that's what I did," Miller said. "If you put someguys on base, it opens up the defense and they capitalized onit."


After a good start, Miller is winless since July 18, posting an0-2 record with an 11.57 ERA over five starts in that span.

"We're going to hash that over," Leyland said of Miller'sstarting status. "We're going to talk out what is best for him.It's pretty intense up here this time of year. At this pointmaybe we're asking too much of him. We don't want to dosomething foolish."


Esteban German's triple to right scored David DeJesus, who washit by a Miller pitch to leadoff the game, to give the Royals anearly 1-0 lead.


The Royals then received run-producing singles by MarkGrudzielanek, who had three of their eight hits, and Gordon.Tony Pena Jr. followed with a single to score Billy Butler andEmil Brown before Miller retired a batter.


"You want to go up and see a couple of pitches because he(Miller) wasn't able to put the ball anywhere he wanted,"DeJesus said. "You wanted to work the count. You didn't want tobe too aggressive.


"It's always fun when everyone is getting on base and scoringruns. It was definitely a way a start and give Zack a littlebreathing room."


The Kansas City offense had no runs and just three hits afterMiller left, but the damage was already done.


Ryan Braun (2-0) worked 2 2/3 innings after Greinke left,allowing two hits and striking out three to pick up the victory.Braun got Curtis Granderson to ground into a double play forthe first time this season in his 513th at-bat in the fifthinning.


David Riske worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh andpitched the final 2 1/3 innings to log his fourth save.

The Tigers were shutout for just the second time this season.

"We still had eight innings to put some runs on the board and wedidn't do anything," Leyland said. "It is not the best tonicin the world to go out and be trailing by five after the firstinning."