Bobby Witt Jr. adds to MVP resume, but Royals fall to Tigers on Monday night

Kansas City Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. gave American League MVP voters more source material to consider on Monday night against the Detroit Tigers.

Witt carried the Royals offense with a grand slam and five RBIs. However, he came just short with the bases-loaded late in the game.

In the seventh inning, Witt and team captain Salvador Perez failed to drive in the tying run against the Tigers. Both players flew out in a key moment as Detroit held on for a 7-6 victory at Kauffman Stadium.

“It was an intense game, back and forth, putting everything on the line,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “You get out to a lead and you feel pretty good. You know, they are not going to go away. We had trouble putting them away from the very beginning.”

After a slow start, the Tigers attacked Royals starter Seth Lugo and the bullpen.

Lugo labored through 4 ⅔ innings. He allowed four runs, eight hits and issued two walks. The Tigers produced a lot of hard contact at the plate.

In the fifth inning, Lugo left an 86.9 mph changeup that Colt Keith drilled for a two-run homer over the right-field wall.

“It’s a tough loss,” Lugo said. “I thought I threw the ball okay and commanded most of my pitches. You know, I thought they had a good approach and laid off some pitches. Obviously, I want to pitch deeper than that. I feel like as a starter, you should get through five (innings). I feel like I let the team down tonight.”

The Royals still led 6-4 through five innings, but the bullpen failed to protect the lead. Left-hander Sam Long allowed three runs in 2/3 of an inning. Tigers outfielder Wenceel Perez drilled a pinch-hit two-run double to tie the score in the sixth.

Later, Perez scored as teammate Matt Vierling recorded an RBI single.

“There weren’t a lot of easy outs,” Quatraro said. “... (They) drove Lugo’s pitch count up and they continued to put good at-bats together.”

Witt finished 2-for-4 and recorded his 200th hit. He now has an MLB-leading .332 batting average with 32 home runs and 108 RBIs this season.

“That’s pretty cool anytime you do that,” Witt said of reaching 200 hits. “Obviously, you want to win those games.”

The Royals fell to 82-69. KC is now five games behind the Cleveland Guardians for first place in the American League Central. The Guardians rallied to defeat the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field.

In the AL Wild Card race, the Royals are 2 1/2 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the first Wild Card spot. KC also has a 2 1/2 game lead over the Twins for the second position.

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Here are more notables from Monday’s game:

Royals squander late scoring chance

KC had multiple chances to tie the game. In the eighth inning, the Royals had two baserunners aboard against reliever Beau Brieske.

Michael Massey reached with a leadoff single. Then Hunter Renfroe drew a walk to set up the inning for MJ Melendez.

However, Briske was able to escape the threat. He struck out Melendez and forced Maikel Garcia to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.

“You can go back and look at a lot of different things and say, ‘Should’ve done this. Should’ve done this,’” Witt said. “But at the end of the day, we lost and we have to move forward and learn from it.”

The Tigers held on to their one-run lead and closed it out with a clean ninth inning.

James McArthur leaves with injury

The Royals are dealing with another bullpen injury. In the seventh inning, KC right-hander James McArthur exited the game with right elbow tightness.

“We have to get an exam tomorrow and figure out what we’ve got,” Quatraro said.

McArthur pitched to three batters in the inning. He is the latest Royals reliever to be pick up an injury. The club is without Will Smith and Hunter Harvey, who are both dealing with back injuries.

Chris Stratton is also sidelined with a right forearm flexor strain. He was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sept. 14.

Up next for the KC Royals:

The Royals continue their final homestand on Tuesday. Left-hander Cole Ragans will start against the Tigers at Kauffman Stadium.

Ragans is 7-5 with a 3.57 ERA in 16 home starts. On May 22, Ragans recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts against the Tigers. Detroit will start right-hander Casey Mize. He is 2-6 with a 4.47 ERA this season.