Runelvys Hernandez only made a couple of mistakes, but the team’s light hitting magnified those miscues, as the Royals lost to the Tigers 3-2 in Detroit. Hernandez, who was making his second start of the season, allowed a solo home run to Magglio Ordonez in the fourth and a two-out, two-run homer to Craig Monroe in the seventh, to put the Royals in a 3-0 hole. Hernandez (1-1) allowed a single to Omar Infante and was pulled. He allowed just five hits through 6 2/3 innings.
Kansas City rallied in the ninth inning to make it interesting. Reggie Sanders belted a one-out triple and was knocked home by Matt Stairs, who hit a single on the next at-bat. After Tony Graffanino grounded fort he second out, Doug Mientkiewicz got the rally restarted with a single. Mark Teahen drove him home with a single, but Angel Berroa grounded out to end the game.
The Royals fired hitting coach Andre David after the loss. The Royals are hitting .243 this season, which is the third-worst mark in the American League. The Royals are also last in the A.L. in home runs (14), runs (85) and hits (184). David was replaced by former Toronto hitting coach Mike Barnett, who joined the Royals organization before the start of the season as the minor league hitting instructor. David will now take over that position, the same one he held until being promoted to the big leagues about a year ago.
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