Spencer Torkelson hits homer No. 30 as Detroit Tigers sweep Royals: Game thread recap
Detroit Tigers (74-83) vs. Kansas City Royals (54-103)
First pitch: 3:10 p.m. Thursday for Game 3, the series finale.
UPDATE: Wednesday's game was completed early Thursday as an 8-0 Tigers win.
Where: Comerica Park in Detroit.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1 in Detroit; Tigers radio affiliates).
Probable pitchers for Game 2: Tigers RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long (1-0, 2.70 ERA) vs. Royals LHP Cole Ragans (7-4, 3.31 ERA).
Game 2 Tigers lineup:
2B Andy Ibanez
DH Spencer Torkelson
1B Tyler Nevin
SS Zack Short
C Carson Kelly
P Sawyer Gipson-Long
COMING SOON Detroit Tigers starter Reese Olson experienced 'a lot of growth' as rookie in 2023 season
Who to follow: Evan Petzold, Free Press beat writer on Tigers.
Game notes: For all the Royals’ many faults this season in piling up the fourth-most losses in franchise history — their 4.17 runs a game is 25th out of 30 teams, and their 401 walks is 29th — they have been good at preventing strikeouts. Kansas City entered Wednesday with 1,352 strikeouts in 2023, right at the league average. (They then struck out eight times in just four innings against Tarik Skubal, which is ... understandable.)
That’s not the best news for Tigers rookie Sawyer Gipson-Long, who’ll be making his fourth career start against those Royals. Gipson-Long was a burgeoning strikeout artist during his stint in the minors — the 25-year-old got 126 in 99 2/3 Double- and Triple-A innings this season — but he’s been equally as effective against big-league hitters, with 20 strikeouts in 15 innings. That included an 11-strikeout start earlier this month, the most by any Tigers starter in 2023. Gipson-Long is also within reach of history; he needs four strikeouts tonight to set the franchise record for most strikeouts in a pitcher’s first four appearances combined. Denny McLain holds the mark with 23 set in 1963 and 1964, and there’s a couple Hall of Famers right behind him: Jim Bunning (1955) and Jack Morris (1977) each had 22 in their first four games, as did more recent Tigers Michael Fulmer (2016) and Drew Smyly (2012).
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The Royals, meanwhile, have their own youngster chasing history: Bobby Witt Jr. enters today with 29 homers and 48 steals, looking to become just the fourth member of MLB’s 30/50 club. (The others: Eric Davis, with 37 and 50 in 1987; Barry Bonds, with 33 and 52 in 1990; Ronald Acuña Jr., with 41 and 70 this year.) Witt has speed to burn — his 10 triples lead the majors — but the shortstop isn’t the canniest of basestealers, as his 13 times getting caught also lead the majors. (This year’s bigger bases and limits on throws to first can only help so much, we guess.)
After today’s extended action, the Tigers and Royals go their separate ways; the Tigers remain home for a three-game visit from the Cleveland Guardians, which will determine the second-place squad in the AL Central; the Tigers are virtually tied with the Guardians, who won their game Wednesday while the Tigers were in a rain delay. The Central cellar-dwelling Royals, meanwhile, head home for a three-game set against the Yankees (who are barely guaranteed to finish at .500 or better, thanks to their 81st win of the year on Wednesday night).
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on X (which used to be Twitter, y’know?) @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers beat Kansas City Royals, 8-0 and 7-3: Game thread recap
