Mize spins gem but Tigers' fate turns in 9th

Officially, Salvador Perez’s bouncer off Casey Mize remains a hit, the only one Mize allowed for his first six innings Sunday at Kauffman Stadium.

By the end of the day, it was a footnote.

As Michael Fulmer ’s sixth pitch of the ninth inning landed in front of the fountains in right-center, powered by Carlos Santana for a walk-off two-run homer and a 3-2 Royals win, the Tigers were reminded by a longtime nemesis of the importance of competing for nine innings. Until then, Detroit was poised for a second consecutive series victory, a 5-1 road trip and a 10th win in 13 games. Mize was in line for his third consecutive win.

• Box score

Two batters changed that. And as the Tigers returned home from a 4-2 trip, the real debate wasn’t hit or error, but how Detroit missed opportunities in back-to-back games for what would’ve been its first series win in Kansas City since 2018.

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“We had a chance to win, and we didn’t win,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s not fun, but we’re going to be OK. We’re going to show up tomorrow ready to play, but these are tough losses when you get walked off.”

For six innings, Mize had no-hit stuff, if not a no-hit bid. He worked through the Royals’ lineup unscathed through three innings and struck out four of his first seven batters, each on a different pitch.

Whit Merrifield struck out on three pitches to lead off, fanning on back-to-back sliders. Kelvin Gutierrez fanned on back-to-back splitters in the second before Mize dropped a curveball over the plate for a called third strike on Ryan O’Hearn.

“I want to be able to throw any pitch in any count to anybody,” Mize said. “I think that helps me succeed.”

Once Jorge Soler fanned on a 94 mph fastball to lead off the third, Mize had hitters guessing despite facing Kansas City for the second time in 12 days and the third time this season.

“Each time we’ve seen him, he’s making adjustments as a young pitcher,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He threw a good game, didn’t give us a lot. You can tell the guys are having trouble picking up the spin and kept us off-balance all day."

Nothing the Royals put in play off Mize looked close to a hit until Robbie Grossman made a sliding catch on Merrifield’s sinking liner to lead off the fourth. The only argument was whether Mize had given up a hit on Perez’s high-hop bouncer that skipped off shortstop Niko Goodrum’s glove and into left field for what was scored a two-out single in the fourth. The official scorer looked at the replay, according to Tigers radio broadcaster Dan Dickerson, but upheld his call of a single rather than an error.

“I thought the play should’ve been made,” Hinch said. “It was a little bit of an awkward play. I'm not an official scorekeeper, and at that point in the game, I didn’t really care.”

That call looked destined to loom as Mize, who has a no-hitter from his college days at Auburn, kept mowing efficiently through the Royals' lineup. Not until Gutierrez’s fifth-inning groundout did the Royals hit a ball with an exit velocity over 85 mph, according to Statcast. O’Hearn’s ensuing drive to the center-field warning track had the high expected batting average at .410, spinning JaCoby Jones around before he made the catch.

The Tigers were seemingly cruising, having pulled ahead with a two-run first inning after five of their first six batters reached base against starter Kris Bubic. However, Detroit produced just three more baserunners over his next four innings, and just three more hits after the four-hit first inning. It was a bigger issue after Andrew Benintendi and Perez lined back-to-back clean singles off Mize to begin the seventh.

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“I knew it was a close game, and I just wanted to keep putting up zeros,” Mize said. “That was probably where more of my focus was.”

Mize finished with a run on three hits over 6 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out six. He has allowed five runs on 12 hits over 26 innings in four May outings. He also has five consecutive starts of at least six innings with no more than four hits allowed, tied for the longest streak in franchise history with Mickey Lolich, Max Scherzer and, ironically, Fulmer.

For the trip, Tigers starters posted a 3.23 ERA and 1.00 WHIP and averaged better than six innings a start, striking out 37 batters over 39 innings. The rotation has stabilized, and until Sunday, the bullpen had improved with fewer innings to cover and Fulmer’s power pitching in tight situations. Until Sunday, the offense had also rallied for support; this marked Detroit’s first loss in three weeks when allowing three runs or fewer in a game.