DETROIT (AP) — MJ Melendez hit a pinch-hit three-run homer in the ninth inning to rally the Kansas City Royals to a 3-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday.
Trailing 2-0 going into the top of the ninth, Hunter Renfroe and Freddy Fermin reached on singles with one out. Adam Frazier nearly hit a pinch-hit homer, but the ball curled foul and he flew out to center field.
Melendez then hit a 362-foot blast, his 13th of the season, to give Kansas City the lead.
“I like to be in those situation — it is do or die and that’s a lot of fun,” Melendez said. “I’m going to be ready late in games, whether they need me to hit or play defense. I have to stay as locked in as possible, just like I’m in the game.”
Tigers manager A.J. Hinch used lefty Shelby Miller in the ninth, knowing the Royals would be sending up their left-handed hitters.
“I think Shelby had given up eight hits against lefties all year going into that inning,” Hinch said. “They got two, two-strike hits from Renfroe and Fermin, and then a bad splitter to a guy who can hit the ball out of the park.”
Chris Stratton (4-3) got the win with a scoreless eighth. The Royals’ Hunter Harvey, who squandered a two-run lead in the ninth inning of a 6-5, 11-inning loss on Saturday, pitched the ninth for his first save.
“We acquired (Harvey) to pitch in high-leverage situations, and that was high leverage,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “There’s a reason we gave up good players to get him, so we’re not going to run away from one bad outing.”
The Royals have won six of their last seven games.
“We talked a lot about how they got one from us yesterday late, and then we turned around and did that today,” Quatraro said. “That’s why you can’t get too high or too low, because the same thing will happen to you.”
The Tigers went 2-7 on a nine-game homestand against Minnesota, Cleveland and Kansas City.
The Tigers have two healthy starting pitchers after trading Jack Flaherty, so manager Hinch has relied heavily on his bullpen. On Sunday, he got four scoreless innings from Alex Faedo and Brenan Hanifee before turning the ball over to Brant Hurter for his major league debut.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead when Zach McKinstry tripled and scored on Gio Urshela’s two-out single in the second inning. Matt Vierling made it 2-0 in the fifth, driving in Javier Baez with a sacrifice fly.
Hurter struck out Salvador Perez and Paul DeJong to get out of a jam in the sixth inning, and allowed two hits before leaving after the seventh. Will Vest pitched the eighth, but Miller couldn’t finish it.
“Our pitching was awesome,” Hinch said. “Faedo had to battle and Hanifee came in and got the ball on the ground. They stacked the lineup expecting to see Hurter, and he got us once through the order. After that, we had avenues to get it done, so it is a gut-punch to lose.”
Miller (5-7) worked two-thirds of an inning and took the loss.
UP NEXT
Royals: Open a three-game home series against the Red Sox on Monday. RHP Brady Singer (8-6, 2.88) is scheduled to start against Boston LHP James Paxton (8-3, 4.52).
Tigers: After an off day Monday, take on the Mariners for three games in Seattle. Detroit’s RHP Keider Montero (1-5, 6.18) is scheduled to start Tuesday. Seattle has not named a starter.
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