KANSAS CITY -- Just as it looked like the Royals had singled and homered their way to a series-opening win over the Tigers on Friday night, it was the Kansas City bullpen -- a strength this season and especially lately -- that cracked in the late innings.
Miguel Cabrera’s grand slam off Greg Holland in the seventh inning was the difference in the Royals’ 7-5 loss at Kauffman Stadium. With two outs and the bases loaded, Holland got into a full count with Cabrera, threw a slider on the outside part of the zone, and the future Hall of Famer rocketed it 405 feet for his second home run of the game.
“At that point, with the bases loaded, I knew it had to be a strike, too,” Holland said. “I wasn’t sold that he was going to chase anything out of the zone, so I tried to make a perfect pitch, and it wasn’t. ... He’s a pretty good hitter, he’s got a pretty good idea of the strike zone, so I was more upset that I didn’t get in a better spot before that happened.
“I feel completely responsible for the loss. It’s a game we should have won.”
Kansas City had a win within sight after Ryan O’Hearn’s RBI single and Michael A. Taylor’s two-run homer in the sixth inning put the Royals up, 5-3. Starter Mike Minor had been solid with eight strikeouts over six innings, scattering eight hits but only allowing three runs and no walks.
But the veteran left-hander gave up consecutive singles to start the seventh, bringing his total to 10 in six-plus innings, and with the top of the order coming up, manager Mike Matheny turned things over to his bullpen, which had a 0.72 ERA (two earned runs in 25 innings) over its previous eight games entering Friday. It was one of three bullpen units during that stretch to not give up a home run, joining the Cubs and Marlins.
Tyler Zuber loaded the bases on Robbie Grossman’s single, but he got the first out at home on a wild pitch. Zuber reloaded the bases on Jonathan Schoop’s walk, but he got the second out on a 97 mph fastball that Jeimer Candelario watched for strike three. That’s when Holland came in for Cabrera. The veteran slugger entered Friday hitting .184 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. His solo shot in the second snapped a 17-game homerless skid, and his grand slam made it a five-RBI night.
Holland threw Cabrera a slider for a called strike then two balls (a fastball and curveball) before getting the second called strike a fastball high and tight. Another curveball went in the dirt for a full count.
“Greg has come through in those situations similar to that,” Matheny said. “Try to make the moves that you think are going to give us our best shot. Sometimes they’re going to work, sometimes they’re not. And tonight, it didn’t. He gets into a full count and throws a pretty good pitch.
“And the fact that it’s a 3-2 breaking ball with the bases loaded, not a lot of guys execute that. You have a good hitter who’s obviously starting to put some things together. Made us pay.”
If Holland would have gotten the out, Matheny said he would have sent Holland back out for the eighth inning before handing it over to Scott Barlow, who is usually the reliever to work in high-leverage situations like the seventh inning on Friday, for in the ninth. Instead, the Royals turned to Kyle Zimmer in the eighth for his first appearance since coming off the injured list after a left trapezius strain.
He threw a scoreless inning, which is a positive sign for the bullpen. The team’s high-leverage relievers, like Barlow and Josh Staumont, have worked quite a bit of late, even with the club’s off-days this week. Pushing Zimmer into a bigger role like he had before his injury will give the bullpen more flexibility.
Friday, though, was another stinging loss to the Tigers, now the Royals’ fourth straight to Detroit after a four-game sweep in April at Comerica Park.
“I’m pretty [mad] at the moment,” Holland said. “But it’s one of those things where you’ve got to learn that tomorrow’s a new day. I might not sleep great tonight, but when I get up tomorrow, I’ll be ready to win a game. … I’ve thrown many pitches over the course of my career that were just really bad pitches, right down the middle, and the guy pops out and you’re like, ‘Hey, way to do your job.’ And it didn’t work out like that today, and it cost us a win.”