Anibal Sanchez surrendered one run in seven innings of work, aided by some fancy glove work in the 7th from Eugenio Suarez.
The Tigers scored twice to earn him the win. The first came on the game’s opening rally, an Ian Kinsler RBI single after an Austin Jackson leadoff double. The go-ahead was earned on a Miguel Cabrera sacrifice fly. That’s the key for us: we load them up all the time, so it’s necessary to finish the job with that deep fly ball sometimes.
The only Royals run scored on a bloop single with two outs in the first inning as well. After that, the Tigers pitched eight scoreless.
Joba Chamberlain got us through the 8th, stranding two with one out. Some interference on a steal attempt cost Kansas City their best chance that same inning. Bench coach Gene Lamont, who actually saw the play (unlike KC’s Yost), pointed out that Tigers catcher Bryan Holoday likely would have thrown the runner out at second, let alone kept him from advancing to third. Holoday confirmed the call was right in his interview as well. Lamont took over for Brad Ausmus early on due to our manager exiting with an illness.
It wouldn’t be without drama, but Joe Nathan earned the save for his 9th inning behavior. Tigers fans everywhere went through another inning with two on and one out, only to watch Joe strike out the fourth snarf. Finally, a ground out to Cabrera ended it.