DETROIT -- As Tyson Ross walked off the mound in the second inning Saturday, charged with more runs than he was credited outs, the Tigers right-hander had a lot of parents relating to him.
Ross missed his scheduled start earlier this week to be with his wife for the birth of their first child. He was up late Friday night to tend to their newborn son, Jordan Anthony Ross. Hours later, he was back on the mound for his first start in 10 days, and the Royals welcomed back the proud papa with a four-run opening inning, another run in the second and an eventual 15-3 Tigers loss at Comerica Park.
It’s not easy being a new dad. For that matter, it wasn’t a fun day at the park being a Tigers catcher for the procession of pitchers that followed, either.
“It’s been a little bit of a bumpy road here,” Ross said. “But I’m looking forward to getting back to work and getting back into my rhythm.”
With three starters on the injured list and a four-man rotation going, the Tigers didn’t have time to let Ross get back up to speed. They would’ve needed to call up another starter if Ross didn’t start Saturday, and he was already back on the 25-man roster after using his three-day stay on the paternity list earlier in the week.
“He’s had a pretty crazy week, having the kid,” catcher John Hicks said. “He missed his other start, and that kind of throws the whole routine off. Pitchers are very routine-based.”
Five of Kansas City’s first six batters recorded base hits, including Alex Gordon’s 14th career home run at Comerica Park. Ross’ lone out in the stretch came when Adalberto Mondesi laid down a bunt on a pitch near his head.
“He was a little bit out of whack,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “He’s healthy, but he just was misfiring all over the place. It continued from there.”
The Royals ended up batting around in a 35-pitch first inning. Ross’ four-pitch walk to Whit Merrifield leading off the second inning brought Reed Garrett warming up in the bullpen for the second time. Mondesi’s ensuing triple gave the Royals a cycle off Ross through 11 batters. Two batters and another four-pitch walk later, Gardenhire emerged from the dugout with the hook.
Ross gave up five runs on seven hits in 1 1/3 innings, the third-shortest start of his Major League career. Five relievers combined with Ross for 19 hits, 10 walks -- two of them with the bases loaded -- and a wild pitch. Hicks was behind the plate for all of them, making his pregame work catching a ceremonial first pitch from Vikings quarterback and former Michigan State star Kirk Cousins on Friday night seem like the best pitch he caught this weekend.
“It was kind of surprising looking up and seeing that it was only a three-hour game,” Hicks said.