Kansas City, Mo. — Sometimes you just need to keep kicking at the door. Sooner or later, it’s bound to open.
The Tigers, shut out three times on this road trip and four times this month, found themselves in a fast 3-0 hole against the Royals Wednesday night. Given how poorly they swung the bats off rookie Eric Skoglund in his big-league debut Tuesday, the deficit looked daunting against veteran Ian Kennedy.
Then Victor Martinez slashed a line-drive home run into the right-field seats in the second inning. Kennedy lost his command of the strike zone and walked the bases loaded in the third.