Kyle Davies squared off against former Missouri Tigers Max Scherzer on Friday afternoon as the Kansas City Royals hit the road for the first time in 2011 facing the Detroit Tigers. Behind solid pitching, the Tigers picked up a 5-2 victory.
Davies struggled from the onset, grinding throw a 40 pitch first inning enroute to giving up four runs, highlighted by a Victor bases clearing three-run double by Victor Martinez. On the day Davies last just 3.2 innings giving up 5 runs on 6 hits. In addition he walked 5 and had 3 wild pitches on the day, clearly showing how much he struggled finding the strike zone.
Scherzer put together a solid outing, holding the Royals at bay with 6.0 innings pitched and giving up just 1 run on 7 hits.
The Royals were lead offensively by Michigan native Chris Getz, who went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk from the leadoff spot. Melky Cabrera, Alex Gordon, and Billy Butler each produced 2 hits, as the first four hitters in the lineup went a combined 9-for-17. The Royals just couldn't get anything out of the bottom half of their lineup.
If you are looking for a positive, Nathan Adcock came in for Davies and did pitch 3.1 innings of relief giving up no runs on 4 hits. Davies fell to 0-1, while Scherzer moved to 2-0, and Jose Valverde picked up his 2nd save thus far. Kansas City fell to 4-3, while Detroit moved to 3-4.