Royals show gritty resilience in Sunday comeback victory over Tigers

Jaylon Thompson, The Kansas City Star on Aug 24, 2025

Published in Baseball

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

DETROIT — The Kansas City Royals are a tough out in a series finale. And the Detroit Tigers experienced that firsthand on Sunday afternoon.

Despite losing the series, the Royals ensured there wouldn’t be a Motor City sweep at Comerica Park. First baseman Vinnie Pasquantino spearheaded a six-run, third inning as the Royals batted around against Tigers starter Jack Flaherty.

Pasquantino belted his team-leading 28th home run that inning. Flaherty tried to sneak a 79 mph knuckle-curve past Pasquantino, but he was ready for it. The baseball traveled 429 feet into the right-field seats.

The Royals also got RBIs from Mike Yastrzemski, Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez and Adam Frazier in a 10-8 victory.

Yet, it was far from easy. The Royals (67-64) had to fight from behind in the late innings. It was reminiscent of an old-school American League Central showdown in which neither team relented.

The Tigers chased Royals starter Seth Lugo from the game early. The 2024 All-Star allowed six earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Lugo has received 4.3 runs of support per nine innings this year. He got double that in terms of runs but wound up with a no-decision.

The Royals’ expansive lead dissipated in the middle innings. In the fourth, Lugo surrendered a bases-clearing double to Tigers outfielder Jahmai Jones. The Tigers scored three more in the fifth.

Wenceel Perez hit a solo homer to cut the deficit to one run. Then, Dillon Dingler and Zack McKinstry gave the Tigers a 7-6 lead.

Left-handed specialist Angel Zerpa relieved Lugo. And the Royals continued to fight.

Kyle Isbel regained the lead for Kansas City with a two-run single. Then, Maikel Garcia atoned for a ball bouncing off his glove with a solo homer in the seventh.

From there, the Royals relied on a bullpen quartet of John Schreiber, Lucas Erceg, Jonathan Bowlan and Carlos Estévez to close the door. Schreiber pitched arguably the most pivotal stretch, getting three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings.

The Royals are 28-14 in series finales this season. They have won 13 of their last 15 series finales, which includes a 11-game win streak in that span.

Bailey Falter injury update

The Royals placed left-hander Bailey Falter on the 15-day injured list with a left-bicep contusion on Saturday afternoon.

Falter labored through his relief appearance Friday night. He allowed four earned runs in two innings as the Royals fell 7-5 to the Tigers at Comerica Park.

It wasn’t his finest outing and he was drilled by a line drive in the seventh inning. Falter admitted that he felt some discomfort while on the mound. However, he steadily regained feeling while continuing to pitch.

“It was pretty numb, honestly,” Falter said. “But had to go out there and still pitch.”

Falter said his bicep is still tender and a little swollen, but he indicated that the medical treatment he received has helped ease the pain.

“We’re just waiting for the swelling to go down and then we’ll probably start back up with the throwing activity,” he said.

The Royals recalled right-handed reliever Jonathan Bowlan from Triple-A Omaha. He arrived on Saturday and was available to pitch on Sunday.

What’s ahead

The Royals continue their six-game road trip against the Chicago White Sox. Kansas City will head to Rate Field for three games beginning on Monday night.

Rookie Kansas City left-hander Noah Cameron (7-5, 2.53 ERA) will start Monday’s opener. He squares off against White Sox right-hander Shane Smith (3-7, 4.12 ERA).

Royals starters Michael Lorenzen and Ryan Bergert are set to follow Cameron. Lorenzen (5-8, 4.50 ERA) will start on Tuesday night. Meanwhile, Bergert (1-1, 2.79 ERA) is slated to pitch in Wednesday’s finale.

The White Sox plan to counter with left-hander Martin Perez (1-3, 2.51 ERA) and veteran starter Aaron Civale (3-8, 5.02 ERA), respectively, to conclude the series.

____