Parker Meadows’ 10th-inning bloop single lifted the Detroit Tigers over the host Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Tuesday evening.
After Lucas Erceg (2-6) balked Trey Sweeney to third base with one out, Meadows dropped a broken-bat hit into shallow left field for the Tigers, who have won eight of 10. Riley Greene’s two-out single capped the scoring.
In the wild-card race, Detroit (79-73) remained 1 1/2 games behind the Minnesota Twins, who beat the Cleveland Guardians and climbed to three games behind Kansas City (82-70) for the No. 2 wild card.
Tyler Holton (7-1) recorded six outs without allowing a baserunner and Jason Foley earned his 25th save with a hitless 10th.
The Tigers struck early, taking a 1-0 lead when Andy Ibáñez was hit by a pitch to open the game and scored on Matt Vierling’s double to the left-field wall.
The Royals tied the game in the third when Bobby Witt Jr. walked with two outs and scored on Michael Massey’s hit. Meadows prevented a big inning by running down Hunter Renfroe’s deep drive at the center-field wall.
The Tigers forced starter Cole Ragans to pitch out of the stretch throughout his seven innings, often with runners in scoring position. Ragans matched a season high with four walks, permitting a run on four hits and striking out six.
Tigers starter Casey Mize allowed a run on six hits and four walks, with three strikeouts. He left with one out in the fifth after Tommy Pham’s single and two walks loaded the bases.
Witt stole his 30th base of the year, becoming the first shortstop in major league history with two seasons of at least 30 homers and 30 steals.
In losing their third straight, the Royals grounded into three double plays. Despite loading the bases in the fifth and sixth, Kansas City failed to score.