Tigers foiled after fast start by Royals nemeses

KANSAS CITY -- The Tigers were so overjoyed to be putting up early runs against old Royals nemesis Jakob Junis, third-base coach Dave Clark fell over waving runners home. In a season that has given them so little to smile about, the second-inning stumble was a moment of levity.

“He had a great trip around the bases,” manager Ron Gardenhire said after Wednesday night’s 5-4 loss at Kauffman Stadium. “We got a good laugh out of it. Let’s just put it this way: He looked like he was on ice out there. His hands were whirling. I’m sure he won’t live that one down.”

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In the end, Junis had the last laugh, as he generally has for two years. And the Tigers were left to ponder how to hit a right-hander who has almost literally made a career against them.

Eight of Junis’ 27 victories are against the Tigers, who beat him in their first meeting and haven’t saddled him with a loss since. No other Major League pitcher has beaten Detroit as many times over the last two-plus seasons. Indians teammates Corey Kluber and Mike Clevinger have seven wins each.

Junis stays around the strike zone against them without getting hit. And while his repertoire isn’t intimidating, he mixes and spots his pitches in a way that the Tigers can’t figure out.

“Good stuff,” Gardenhire said. “I've watched this guy pitch against us quite a bit and he cuts it up, he has a good breaking ball, and his fastball jumps. I thought we had some really good at-bats against him. We've seen him kind of dominate us a couple times, and I thought we had some good at-bats and some battles. But he finds a way to get deep in the game, and he did that again tonight.”

Junis’ mastery of the Tigers coincides with the club’s rebuilding effort. Only Miguel Cabrera is left from the starting lineup from their first matchup on June 29, 2017, when the Tigers hit Junis for six runs in as many innings. He picked up a win in extra-inning relief a month later and he hasn’t stopped. No matter how much the Tigers roster turns over, Junis finds a way to handle it.

His previous eight outings against Detroit had been quality starts, a streak Cabrera thwarted on Wednesday by driving in Junis’ lone walk in the eighth inning. But the way the Tigers hit him early, they were hoping for more.

Five of the first seven Detroit batters logged base hits against Junis, including the first four batters in a three-run second inning, as the Tigers took an aggressive approach. Seven of their first 10 hitters put his first or second pitch in play, avoiding two-strike counts. Harold Castro's two-run double off the left-field wall off a 2-0 fastball opened the scoring before Dawel Lugo's RBI single sent Clark tumbling.

The Tigers managed just two singles off Junis in his next five-plus innings -- an infield single from Castro in the fourth inning and a single from Jeimer Candelario leading off the seventh. Neither runner advanced from there.

“He made some adjustments and made some pitches and got himself through it,” Gardenhire said, “but we had our chances.”

Junis wasn’t the only Tigers nemesis at work. As Jorge Soler’s 40th home run of the season -- and 10th off Detroit pitching -- sailed deep to left field off an Edwin Jackson cutter, the Tigers’ early lead vanished, and their momentum with it. It was a 450-foot drive with a 116-mph exit velocity, the rare ball to get a perfect 1.000 hit probability on Statcast, and it was a no-doubter off the bat.

Soler has homered in five straight games against the Tigers, one of just nine players since 1913 to do so. No player had done it since Charles Johnson, when he was with the Orioles in 1999. Just three other players have posted 10 homers and 26 RBIs in a single season against the Tigers, a list that includes Hall of Famers Babe Ruth (1920, ‘21 and ‘29) and Jimmie Foxx (1932), along with Gus Zernial (1953).

“He’s a tough hitter,” Jackson said. “Obviously with power hitters, you have to make pitches. If you don’t execute against power hitters, they can do that. They hurt you with the long ball. But for me, I feel like it’s a single run.”

A month ago, a lone run was all Jackson allowed the Royals in his return to Detroit. He held them scoreless for three innings on Wednesday, but two runs each in the fourth and fifth sent him to a fourth straight defeat.

“All in all, if the team goes out and gives you a 3-0 lead, I feel like I have to hold that game,” Jackson said. “If I get a three-run lead like that, I want to come out winning. Obviously, a couple tough breaks, a couple pitches not executed were kind of costly.”

Still, for a second straight night, the Tigers had a chance late. As Cabrera’s excuse-me, check-swing liner off Scott Barlow snuck inside first base and down the right-field line for a two-out single in the eighth inning, Clark had to put up a late stop sign on Victor Reyes as he sped from first to third. He was the potential tying run, but he had no chance to beat right fielder Brett Phillips on a play at the plate.

Christin Stewart did his best to get him in, smacking a low line drive that had an 85 percent hit probability, according to Statcast, but it went right to second baseman Whit Merrifield.

“Those are the frustrating things, when you’re playing like this and trying to figure out how to win,” Gardenhire said.