The Royals and Tigers were engaged in a tense pitcher’s duel for eight innings before Kansas City broke the game wide open in the ninth inning leading to an 8-0 win in the series opener on Friday afternoon. The Royals got seven shutout innings from Seth Lugo, who lowered his season ERA to 1.66, allowing just three hits and recording a season-high nine strikeouts.
The Royals got on the board in the third inning when the bottom of the order came through. Adam Frazier and Kyle Isbel each singled, and a walk to Maikel Garcia loaded the bases for Bobby Witt Jr.