DETROIT — There’s still miles to go, mind you. But sweeping the Kansas City Royals and winning four straight games is a solid step toward stability, if not full recovery.
The Tigers took that step with a 4-3 win on Thursday, extending the reeling Royals’ losing streak to 11 in the process.
As improbable as it may seem, too, it was the first career win for right-hander Spencer Turnbull against a Central Division opponent. He was 0 for 15 in the division before spinning 6 1/3 strong innings, holding the Royals to a run and six singles.
His slider befuddled the Royals. He threw 21 of them and none were put in play. Of the 12 they swung at, 10 were missed.
He posted seven strikeouts and induced eight ground ball outs.
Things got a little hairy after Turnbull left.
The Royals put two runners on base in every inning from the fifth through the ninth.
Reliever Jose Cisnero, coming off a couple of rough outings including blowing a four-run lead in the ninth on Tuesday, struck out Hunter Dozier and Michael A. Taylor to strand two in the eighth.
Lefty Gregory Soto was summoned to close it out. Pitching for the third straight day and having thrown 30 pitches in the previous two, things got messy.
He walked left-handed hitting No. 9 hitter Nicky Lopez and then gave up a double to Whit Merrifield after putting him in an 0-2 hole. Both would score, on a groundout by Carlos Santana and a bullet single by Salvador Perez.
With speedy pinch-runner Jarrod Dyson on first base and one out, Tigers manager AJ Hinch brought in Michael Fulmer.
Dyson never moved off first. Fulmer got Jorge Soler to pop out and he struck out Andrew Benintendi on three pitches.
The Tigers faced a left-handed starter for the second game in a row. Nobody in baseball hit left-handed pitching worse than the Tigers coming into this series against the Royals and it wasn’t even close. Before Wednesday, they were slashing .178/.242/.243 against southpaws.
Apparently they just needed to see more of them.
After scoring four runs on seven hits to beat lefty Danny Duffy Wednesday night, they chased Royals’ lefty starter Daniel Lynch with a four-run outburst in the second inning. Credit right fielder Soler for an assist in the inning, too.
Miguel Cabrera started the rally with a two-strike, bloop single to right, a ball Soler didn’t pursue with much urgency. With one out, catcher Eric Haase, making his first start this season, doubled over Soler’s head.
Willi Castro and JaCoby Jones delivered RBI singles. Soler booted Jones’ single, allowing runners to advance to second and third. Akil Baddoo (sacrifice fly) and Robbie Grossman (single) plated those two runners.
That was it. But it was enough.
It was a two-hit debut for Dearborn (Mich.) Divine Child grad Haase. He also singled.
Growing up in Westland, his mother used to drive him to games in the early 2000s. And as Bally Sports’ Trevor Thompson reported during the game, his mother had to drive him to the game Thursday as well.
Haase’s truck is still in Toledo.
