Zack Greinke tosses best outing of the year, but Royals lose 4-3 to Tigers in 10 innings

Kansas City Royals veteran pitcher Zack Greinke tossed seven scoreless innings, his longest outing of the season, to help his team build a three-run lead.

But in the inning after Greinke’s departure, the Detroit Tigers rallied to tie the score in the eighth.

Then the Tigers pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning against Royals reliever and Michigan native Anthony Misiewicz for the 4-3 victory.

The Royals wasted the gem by Greinke in front of an announced 13,334 in the first game of a three-game series at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan.

The Royals (63-91) started their season-ending nine-game road trip with an extra-inning loss when Tigers infielder Harold Castro, who drove in three of his team’s four runs, belted a two-out RBI single to give the Tigers (61-92) a walk-off victory.

Tigers relief pitcher Alex Lange, the 2014 Missouri Gatorade Player of the Year out of Lee’s Summit West High School, pitched a scoreless 10th to earn the win.

Greinke limited the Tigers to four hits (all singles) and one walk on an efficient 86-pitch outing. He struck out two, and the Royals’ infield turned a pair of double plays behind him. Greinke also picked off a base runner.

Royals slugger Hunter Dozier went 1 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs, and rookie utility man went Nate Eaton 1 for 4 with a triple and an RBI.

Royals center fielder Michael A. Taylor had two hits (2 for 3), a walk and a run scored, while rookie infielder Bobby Witt Jr. (1 for 4) extended his hitting streak to 10 consecutive games with an infield single in the 10th inning.

The Royals left eight men on base and went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position

Early in the night, the Royals got their revenge against the former Shawnee Mission East standout and Tigers left-hander Joey Wentz.

Wentz held the Royals to two hits over 6 2/3 scoreless innings, walked only one and struck out five on Sept. 9 at Kauffman Stadium on the way to his first major-league win.

Tuesday night, the Royals chased Wentz from the game after five innings and built a three-run lead. However, the Royals gave up that lead later in the game.

The Royals’ first six hits of the game were extra-base hits.

Kansas City grabbed a two-run lead in the second inning thanks to Dozier’s 12th home run of the season, a 344-foot drive into the left field corner with Edward Olivares (walk) aboard.

Dozier, who struggled at the plate in the second half of the season, entered the day having collected three multi-hit performances in his previous four games.

In the fourth, the Royals again made Wentz pay for a walk. Taylor drew the one-out walk, then he scored on an Eaton triple lined into the left-center field gap.

The Royals put just three men on against Wentz (two hits, one walk) earlier this month, but they scored three runs in the first four innings the second time around.

The Tigers scored their first run without hitting the ball out of the infield against reliever Dylan Coleman in the eighth inning.

A leadoff walk, a fielder’s choice hit to the third baseman Eaton that left the lead runners safe upon replay review and a bunt single to third base loaded the bases.

Then Riley Green’s chopper to third base resulted in a run when Eaton’s one-hop throw home pulled catcher Salvador Perez off the plate.

After Coleman struck out Javy Baez, Castro slapped a two-out, two-run single to left field to tie the score 3-3.

That set the stage for extra innings as neither team scored in the ninth.