The Royals jumped on a struggling Jeremy Bonderman scoring the game’s first four runs but couldn’t hold on to the lead as they lost 6-4 to the Tigers.
Tony Graffanino gave the Royals a 1-0 lead homering in the first inning. A John Buck single in the second scored Mark Teahen who had led off with a triple. Teahen struck again with a two-run homer to right making it 4-0.
After Ivan Rodriguez made it 4-1 with a solo homer in the fourth, it was Teahen that allowed the Tigers to jump in front.
With one out in the fifth, Royals starter Brandon Duckworth gave up consecutive singles to Marcus Thames, Craig Monroe, and Chris Shelton to load the bases. A fourth single by Brandon Inge plated Thames. Tony Granderson grounded out to second driving in another Detroit run. Placido Polanco hit a grounder to third base that should’ve ended the inning, but Teahen bobbled the ball and threw it away allowing two runs to score and ending the outing for Duckworth. Todd Wellemeyer replaced Duckworth on the mound and gave up an RBI single to Magglio Ordonez capping the five-run inning.
Bonderman earned the win despite having a hard time with the Royals hitters. He gave up four runs on seven hits and walked five in 5.2 innings. The Tigers bullpen did a good job preserving the win. Jason Grilli, Fernando Rodney, Joel Zumaya, and Todd Jones combined to shut out the Royals the rest of the way. Jones got credit for the save, his 24th of the year.
Related web sites:
Royals Official Website
