Tigers starter Joey Wentz, a Shawnee Mission East grad, dominates KC Royals in 10-2 win
Tigers right fielder Willi Castro glided to his right on Friday night and caught a harmless fly ball off the bat of Royals rookie outfielder Drew Waters for the final out of the fifth inning.
Starting pitcher Joey Wentz watched the play to its conclusion, then turned and walked toward Detroit’s dugout at Kauffman Stadium. Wentz, a Shawnee Mission East graduate, must have known at that point he would be in line for his first big-league victory with the Tigers holding a sizable lead.
At that point, the Tigers led by seven runs and they ended up thumping the Royals 10-2.
“I grew up a Royals fan and watched them win the World Series which is super cool, and to be on the field tonight was awesome,” Wentz said.
Although he was pitching on the road, Wentz heard cheers throughout the night from a group of fans behind the Tigers’ dugout, with some in the familiar powder blue of Shawnee Mission East High School.
By Wentz’s estimate, at least 40 people were on hand to watch him, including some of his former Lancers teammates as well as grade-school friends.
Wentz, who was called up by the Tigers before Friday’s game, made his alma mater — and Tigers fans everywhere — proud by throwing 6 2/3 scoreless innings against the Royals. He allowed two hits, walked one and struck out five.
It was Wentz’s longest outing since July 21, 2019 when he was at Double-A, and he was thrilled to have such a solid outing at The K.
“My grandpa had Royals tickets since the ‘80s,” Wentz said. “So I’d come out here a lot. It’s definitely special for me to play here.”
While at SM East, Wentz attended a number of Royals playoff games in 2014-15, including the epic postseason game that kicked it all off.
“I was here when Salvy (Perez) hit the ball by a diving A’s third baseman in the Wild Card (Game),” he said, “so I’ve been to a lot of games. It was awesome.”
Perez had a hit in two at-bats on Friday, as Wentz faced the player he once cheered.
“As a fan of baseball, obviously I’m from Kansas City, I know that he means a great deal to the people of Kansas City and certainly is a great player and has been here a long time and will continue to be a great player,” Wentz said of Perez.
After a dominant senior season at SM East, Wentz was named The Star’s All-Metro player of the year and was selected by the Braves with the 40th overall pick in the 2016 MLB Draft.
A deadline trade in July 2019 sent Wentz to the Tigers, and he had Tommy John surgery in March of the following year. He missed all of the 2020 season, and was at Double-A a year ago.
On Friday night, that was all in the past as he once again looked like the kid from Shawnee Mission East who dominated batters six years ago.
Lynch’s troubles
Royals left-hander Daniel Lynch set the Tigers down in order in the first inning, but was hit hard in the second.
Eric Haase hammered a 444-foot home run to open the frame, and Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter then singled. After an out, Jeimer Candelario crushed a 445-foot home run to left, giving the Tigers a 4-0 lead.
Detroit stranded a pair of runners in the third inning. But in the fourth, Castro’s groundout scored a run and Javier Báez followed with an RBI single that ended Lynch’s night. He allowed six runs on a season-worst 10 hits in 3 2/3 innings pitched.
Lynch called it a frustrating night.
“I felt like we had a good approach going in and I just was getting behind some guys,” he said. “Obviously, giving up especially multi-run homers (is) just not gonna work.”
It was Lynch’s shortest outing since also going 3 2/3 innings on July 16 in Toronto.
Bullpen woes
The Royals’ Brad Keller gave up a pair of runs, one unearned, on three hits in two innings of work, and Luke Weaver allowed a run in his two innings. Anthony Misiewicz gave up a run in his lone inning of work.
The Tigers, who are last in MLB in runs scored, had 17 hits in the game.
Vinnie returns
Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino returned from the injured list before Friday’s game and went 1 for 3 with a walk. Outfielder Brent Rooker was sent to Triple-A Omaha to make room on the roster.
“It’s nice to be back with the club,” Pasquantino said. “It’s good to see the guys today. Obviously, I wish we’d played better today. But that’s the beautiful thing about baseball is we’ve got a game at 3:10 tomorrow, and we’ll be able to flush this here soon.”
Stat of note
The Royals are 0-62 on the season when they trail by at least three runs in a game, per research by Josh Vernier of KCSP (610 AM).
