DETROIT
On early Sunday morning, Eric Hosmer pressed through a set of doors and turned to his left, glancing at the Royals’ lineup card, tacked on a board in a hallway just outside the visitors clubhouse.
For an extra moment, Hosmer scanned the names, his eyes shifting down, before reality set in. As the Royals prepared for their final road game of 2016, Hosmer had an unexpected day off, just his second of the season.
“That doesn’t happen often,” he said, shrugging his shoulders as he turned right into a quiet clubhouse.
Because Hosmer had started 154 of 155 games, and because the Tigers had lefty Matt Boyd on the mound, and because the Royals had another day off Monday, Royals manager Ned Yost decided to give Hosmer a day to rest.