DETROIT -- Royals designated hitter Mike Moustakas left no doubt about how he would extend his hitting streak to 11 games.
Moustakas launched his fifth home run of the season in the sixth, pulling the Royals within one run of the Tigers on Friday afternoon in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Comerica Park. Kansas City would later tie the game, though it fell, 3-2, in 10 innings. In the nightcap, Moustakas singled in the fifth to run his streak to 12 games in a 3-2 win that snapped the club's nine-game skid.
In the opener, Moustakas jumped on a 1-1 changeup from Tigers right-hander Michael Fulmer, and he sent it into the right-field seats. The ball left Moustakas' bat with 106-mph exit velocity, per Statcast™, and it traveled a projected 407 feet.
Moustakas' 12-game hitting streak is the second-longest active streak in the Major Leagues behind James Dozier's 14-game streak for the Twins.
"All that other stuff is kind of irrelevant right now," Moustakas said of his hitting streak after Game 1. "We've just got to go out and find a way to win baseball games. It's not from lack of effort, not for lack of trying. A ball falls here or there, and this thing turns around.
"These guys keep going out and play hard every day, and at some point, it will turn around. We're putting balls in play right now and just not getting results."
Moustakas, who didn't sign with the Royals until March 10, nonetheless has been sizzling to start 2018.
"Just trying to see the ball and get good pitches to hit," Moustakas said. "Trying to hit the barrel. I've been taking pretty good at-bats since Opening Day."
Moustakas' longest career hitting streak is 15 games in 2011.