Riley Greene roped a go-ahead two-run double in the fourth inning for one of his three hits, and the Detroit Tigers overcame an early deficit to snap a four-game skid with Friday night’s 5-3 road win over the Kansas City Royals.
Greene reached and surpassed the 100-RBI mark for the first time in his career with that key hit off Kansas City’s Seth Lugo (8-7), which erased the host’s 3-2 lead. Gleyber Torres also had three hits, Kerry Carpenter went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and played some solid defense for the Tigers, who own a 9 1/2-game lead over second-place Kansas City in the AL Central.
All of Kansas City’s runs came on first-inning homers from Mike Yastrzemski and Maikel Garcia off Chris Paddack, who gave up three other hits while lasting just 3 2/3 innings. Detroit relievers Tyler Holton, Troy Melton, Kyle Finnegan (3-0) and Will Vest (20 saves) allowed four combined hits.
Lugo, meanwhile, gave up four runs, eight hits, four walks and struck out five in 3 1/3 innings as the Royals fell to 3-8 against the Tigers in 2025.
Detroit made Lugo throw 23 pitches in the first inning, however, it stranded the bases loaded. In the bottom of the frame, Yastrzemski sent Paddack’s first pitch of the night well over the right-center field wall. Bobby Witt Jr. followed with a single to extend his hitting streak to 17 games, then trotted home on Garcia’s home run to left-center.
The Tigers loaded the bases again with two out in the second, and this time a fourth straight single, courtesy of Carpenter that dropped into short right field, plated two.
Detroit chased Lugo with one out in the fourth. After he allowed singles to Torres and Carpenter, Greene roped a pitch into the right-field corner that scored both.
Kansas City had its chances, but Carpenter made a leaping, inning-ending catch at the right-field fence with runners on second and third in the sixth. Yastrzemski then led off the seventh with a double, but was stranded at third, along with Garcia at second.
Dillon Dingler homered in the eighth to provide Detroit with some insurance.
