DETROIT — You never know how these things will turn out.
Miguel Cabrera seemed to twist his right knee awkwardly on a swinging third strike in the fifth inning. Harold Castro was summoned to pinch hit for him with two on and two out in the seventh against reliever Jose Cuas.
The right-hander with a funky delivery would have been a tough task for right-handed hitting Cabrera. Lefty-swinging Castro poked an RBI single down the line in left scoring rookie Ryan Kreidler with the go-ahead run in the Tigers’ 5-4 win over the Royals on Friday night at Comerica Park.
Gregory Soto, who hadn't had a save since Aug. 20 and had allowed four runs in his last two outings, came in firing 100-mph heaters and struck out Michael Massey and Hunter Dozier. After a single by Brent Rooker, he got Drew Waters for his 24th save.
It was an active big league debut for Kreidler. He drew a pair of walks and scored twice. He also saved a run with a diving play at third base in the sixth inning.
Save a game ball for Javier Báez, too.
It’d been a rough August for the Tigers shortstop.
He had more strikeouts (30) than hits and walks combined (27), with only eight RBIs. He hit just one home run. In fact, he came into the game Friday with just 11 homers all season.
September is starting off better.
Báez launched a 401-foot home run in a four-run fifth inning that briefly gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead.
The Tigers took a 15-inning scoreless streak into that fifth inning. Willi Castro, who had three hits on the night, snapped the drought lining a solo home run inside the foul pole in left field against Royals lefty starter Daniel Lynch.
Kreidler and fellow rookie Riley Greene followed with walks. Kreidler broke for third and then stopped — the distraction severe enough to make Lynch stop in the middle of his delivery.
The balk moved the runners to second and third. Victor Reyes plated Kreidler with a sacrifice fly to right field.
Báez, who walked in his first at-bat, worked the count full and got a slider up and over the middle of the plate. He hit it with a 29-degree launch angle and it left his bat with an exit velocity of 104 mph, clearing the left-field wall with room to spare.
Those metrics are significant because his average launch angle this season is 8 degrees, which is partly why he’s hit more ground balls this season (53% of the balls he puts in play) than ever before in his career.
Tigers starter Drew Hutchison looked to be cruising, going into the sixth with a 4-2 lead. He was nicked for two runs in the second inning (one earned) but had settled in. But he drilled Royals catcher Salvador Perez in the hand leading off the sixth.
Perez had to leave the game.
With one out, Michael A. Taylor barreled up a slider and lined over the fence in left, the two-run shot tying the game.
Relievers Andrew Chafin (four outs) and Will Vest (three outs) got the game to the ninth.
The Tigers lost catcher Eric Haase in the first inning. He took a foul ball between his legs and was in considerable pain. He finished the inning but pulled from the game with what the club called a lower body contusion.
