Jeremy Guthrie Whiffs Nine Tigers in WIn

Jeremy Guthrie struck out nine Tigers in 6.2 innings, paving the way for the Kansas City Royals to edge Detroit 2-1 at Comerica Park on Wednesday afternoon. The Royals have now won 10 straight games.

Along with Guthrie’s dominance, the Baseball Gods provided a little luck when Alex Gordon‘s routine grounder hit second base and squirted away from fielders to fall for a hit. Eric Hosmer alertly scored from second on the play, giving Kansas City a 1-0 lead in the top of the first.

The victory puts the Kansas City Royals a season-high 7 games over .500 at 39-32. Kansas CIty now holds a 1.5 game lead over Detroit atop the American League Central.

On the Mound

What the heck has gotten into J-Guts? Known as a “pitch to contact” hurler, Jeremy Guthrie stuck out 9 batters for the second game in a row. Either he’s eating his spinach, or pitching coach Dave Eiland has helped him find a little extra heat, Guthrie looks like an entirely different pitcher. He went 6.2 innings, allowing only 4 hits, 1 walk, 1 earned run on J.D Martinez’s home run with 9 strikeouts. Keep it up!

Kelvin Herrera relieved Guthrie after Nick Castellano smacked a double in the 7th. Herrera got Don Kelly to line out to center to end the inning.

Wade Davis struck out the side in the 8th inning.

Greg Holland earned his 21st save despite allowing a leadoff single to Miguel Cabrera.

At the Plate

Overall the Kansas City Royals pecked away for 9 hits, 0 walks, but only 2 runs. Still, it was enough with Guthrie’s dominant performance, some outstanding defense, and Gordon’s fluke RBI single.

Omar Infante was the big dog on the day, going 2-4, with a single, his 4th home run, 1 run scored, and 1 RBI. Infante has clearly recovered from the stiff back which put him on the disabled list last month.

The only other Royals with more than 1 hit was Lorezno Cain, who went 2-4 with two harmless singles.

Eric Hosmer singled in the first (1-4 on the day) and stole 2nd (2) to put himself in scoring position on Gordon’s good-fortune single.

This and That

Alex Gordon saved a run in 6th inning when he speared Miguel Cabrera’s line drive on a diving catch with Ian Kinsler at first base after a walk.

The Royals current 10-game winning streak is the team’s longest since reeling off 14 consecutive wins in 1994 shortly before the baseball strike. It’s also the longest current streak in baseball this season.

Eric Hosmer showed some heads-up running in the 1st inning—not only by swiping 2nd—but also by running hard on what appeared to be a routine out at second. Hosmer’s hustle allowed him to score what turned out to be the difference-maker in the game.

KC Kingdom Player of the Game

Our nod goes to Eric Hosmer for his terrific base-running in the first inning—with apologies to Jeremy Guthrie and Omar Infante. These kinds of unsung plays are what Royals need to do if they want to keep playing in October. Luck doesn’t do you any good unless you put in the work to take advantage of it.

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• Billy Butler – 2
• Lorenzo Cain – 4
• Johnny Giavotella
• Wade Davis
• Norichika Aoki
• Salvador Perez – 4
• Jeremy Guthrie  – 5
• Jason Vargas – 5
• Alex Gordon – 8
• Bruce Chen
• James Shields – 6
• Yordano Ventura – 3
• Mike Moustakas
• Danny Duffy – 4
• Omar Infante – 2
• Mike Moustakas – 4
• Alcides Escobar – 4
• Eric Hosmer – 8
• Michael Mariot
• Casey Coleman

The Tigers

 J.D. Martinez continues to plague the Royals. He went 2-4, with a single, his 5th home run, 1 run scored, and 1 RBI. Martinez has worn-out the Royals in this series after replacing an injured Torii Hunter in the 1st game on Monday. Martinez has gone 6-11 with 2 home runs, a double, 5 RBI’s and 3 runs scored. Martinez would have homered in all 3 games unless Lorenzo Cain did not reach over the right-field wall to rob him on Tuesday night.

Up Next

The Royals and Tigers finish off their 4-game series Thursday afternoon in Detroit. The Royals will send Danny Duffy (4-5, 2.83 ERA) to the mound against Anibal Sanchez (3-2, 2.44 ERA) for the Tigers. Game time is 12:08 CST at Comerica Park in Detroit.

Box

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

HR: O Infante (4, off D Smyly, 5th inn, 0 on, 2 outs to Deep LF).
TB: O Infante 5; L Cain 2; S Perez; A Gordon; B Butler; E Hosmer; J Dyson.
GIDP: B Butler (8).
RBI: A Gordon (39); O Infante (34).
2-out RBI: A Gordon; O Infante.
Team LOB: 5.
With RISP: 1 for 5.
Fielding
E: J Guthrie (6).
Baserunning
SB: E Hosmer (2, 2nd base off D Smyly/A Avila); A Gordon (5, 2nd base off D Smyly/A Avila).
CS: L Cain (2, 2nd base by D Smyly POCS).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

2B: N Castellanos (15, off J Guthrie).
HR: J Martinez (5, off J Guthrie, 7th inn, 0 on, 1 out to Deep LF Line).
TB: J Martinez 5; N Castellanos 2; M Cabrera; I Kinsler.
RBI: J Martinez (21).
Team LOB: 5.
With RISP: 0 for 3.
Fielding
DP: 1. E Suarez-I Kinsler-V Martinez.
E: V Martinez (4).
Baserunning
Pickoffs: I Kinsler (1st base by J Guthrie).

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table.

D Smyly faced 1 batter in the 8th inning.
Balks: None.
WP: None.
HBP: None.
IBB: None.
Pickoffs: J Guthrie (2; I Kinsler, 1st base); D Smyly (3; L Cain, 2nd base (CS)).