 faced three batters in the ninth and all scored.''I'm assuming if the velo was good and I was getting hit, it was probably location,'' Maurer said.Alex Wilson (1-3) picked up the win. Shane Greene gave up a two-out single in the ninth before earning his 20th save in 23 chances.Heath Fillmyer, who was making his second Royals start, allowed two runs, one unearned, on three singles, while striking out six and walking two in 6 2/3 innings.He had retired 15 in a row before walking Martinez with two outs in the seventh. After Adduci dumped a single down the third-base line, Kevin McCarthy replaced Fillmyer. McCann and Jose Iglesias delivered run-producing singles.Francisco Liriano, who threw 50 pitches in the first two innings, yielded three runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. Liriano is winless in his last 11 starts since an April 28 victory.''He was misfiring,'' Gardenhire said. ''It wasn't one of his better performances.'' Left-handed hitters entered the game hitting .088 against Liriano, so Royals manager Ned Yost stacked his lineup with eight right-handed hitters.Lucas Duda, the lone lefty, laced a two-out, two-run single in the first and singled home Jorge Bonifacio in the fifth to chase Liriano.Mike Moustakas' pinch double in the seventh scored Salvador Perez from first base, giving the Royals a 4-2 lead.PEREZ PLAYS FIRSTAll-Star C Perez made his second start of the season and his fifth career appearance at first base. He also made an unwitting web gem. Perez fumbled Adduci's grounder to lead off the fifth before making a back-handed flip to Fillmyer covering the bag. Perez smiled and tipped his cap to the crowd after the play.NEW ARRIVALYost said OF Brian Goodwin, who the Royals acquired in a trade with the Nationals, would ''mostly'' be used in center. Goodwin had an infield pinch single in the seventh and singled again the ninth in his Royals debut. The Royals optioned IF Ramon Torres to Triple-A Omaha to make room.TRAINER'S ROOMRoyals: RHP Blaine Boyer (back strain) reports Tuesday to Double-A Northwest Arkansas to begin a minor league rehab assignment. . LHP Eric Skoglund (elbow strain) allowed one earned run and three hits over four innings in a rehab start Monday for Northwest Arkansas. He struck out two, walked none and threw 42 pitches.UP NEXTTigers: RHP Jordan Zimmermann, who is 4-0 with a 1.36 ERA in six career starts at Kansas City, is the probable for the second game of the series.Royals: Rule 5 pick RHP Burch Smith will make his third start and his first at home)
Royals on roll heading into series with Tigers 2h ago• 3 min read KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- When the All-Star break began, the Kansas City Royals owned the worst record in the majors at 27-68.The industry joke was all the Royals needed was a 41-game winning streak to get back to .500.The Royals will not see anything close to .500 this season and probably will not be able to avoid 100 losses, but they did register their first series sweep of the year, taking three straight from the Minnesota Twins to match their longest winning streak of the season.They will try to extend that on Monday when they open a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium."We needed it," Kansas City catcher Drew Butera said of the sweep. "I think the four days (break) did us well. We kind of regrouped ourselves both physically and mentally. We have a good team. We haven't been playing the way we should have been, having the results we should have been. This was nice to come back and get the second half on the right foot and hopefully get on a little roll here." Butera hit an inside-the-park homer to break a tie in the seventh inning in the 5-3 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Sunday to conclude the sweep. It was the first inside-the-park home run by a Royals catcher since Brent Mayne did it twice in 1991."It doesn't hurt, does it?" Royals manager Ned Yost said of winning three straight. "When we left for the All-Star break, I got the boys together and said, 'look, go home, enjoy your four days, catch your breath, relax, breath deep, breath out. Just relax and be ready to get back after the break and compete.'"And they've done a wonderful job. I'm really pleased. I think our offense is really starting to come back around. I think our bullpen has been really good these here last few days. I think our starting pitching has been really good. I'm happy that we came off the break, exactly the way we wanted to with three wins." The Royals will face another struggling team in the Tigers, who are 17 games below .500 and dropped two of three to the Boston Red Sox. The Tigers were held to five hits, struck out 10 times and lost for the eighth time in 10 games.Left-hander Francisco Liriano, a familiar face, will start the opener for Detroit. He is 3-5 with a 4.67 ERA in 15 starts this season. In 79 innings, he has allowed 66, walked 45 and struck 63, while yielding 42 runs, only one unearned.He went 6-7 with a 5.66 ERA in 18 starts and 20 relief appearances last season with the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros. He has a career record of 105-104 with a 4.17 ERA with six clubs.Liriano last pitched on July 15 in a no-decision against the Astros, coming out after three innings with tightness in his back. He gave up a run on one hits and three walks, while striking out three.Liriano has faced the Royals 22 times, including 19 starts, in his career. He is 8-5 with a 4.03 ERA, allowing 51 earned runs and striking out 93 over 114 innings.He is 1-0 with a 2.37 ERA in three starts this season against Kansas City.In nine career starts and one relief appearance at Kauffman Stadium, Liriano is 4-3 with a 3.40 ERA.Mike Moustakas has only a .158 batting average, 3-for-19 with no home runs, against Liriano. Alex Gordon is 8-for-34, 235. Salvador Perez is 4-for-12, .333, with a home run and three RBIs vs. Liriano. Alcides Escobar is 5-for-26, .192, with one RBI.The Royals will counter with rookie right-hander Heath Fillmyer, who will be making his second career start. Fillmyer's other start was a 7-4 loss to the Boston on July 8 when he allowed four runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.While the Royals are familiar with Liriano, this will be Filmyer's first time to face the Tigers.Overall, he is 0-1 with a 3.45 ERA in five appearances.
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