It wasn’t that Justin Verlander didn’t pitch well.
The Tigers’ ace was solid Tuesday night against the Kansas City Royals. He pitched seven-plus innings. Allowed just four hits.
It was that all but one of the hits he allowed went over the fence, and the pitcher he faced was better. That pitcher was left-hander Danny Duffy, who dominated the Tigers over seven-plus innings of his own, scattering one run on three hits in a 6-1 loss.
The Royals jumped ahead of Verlander with the longball. In the third inning, Raul Mondesi hit his first major league home run to rightfield.