Jackson Jobe overcame a shaky first inning before he shut down Kansas City and the Detroit Tigers’ bats chased the major-league strikeout leader in the fifth inning in an 7-3 win Friday night over the Royals at Comerica Park.
The rookie right-hander settled down after giving up a run in the first inning and running up his pitch count. Jobe (2-0) allowed one run on five hits over five innings, with five strikeouts, two walks and a wild pitch.
Andy Ibanez led off the fourth inning with a solo home run to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead.
The Tigers broke open the game in the fifth inning, when they scored three runs and chased left-hander Cole Ragans, who couldn’t get an on out and left after he struck out eight and threw 96 pitches.
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Riley Greene and Trey Sweeney each hit hard RBI singles to right field and Greene scored from third when Spencer Torkelson grounded into a double play for a 5-1 lead in the fifth.
The Tigers added two more runs in the seventh inning on Torkelson’s two-run double.
The Royals scored two more runs in the ninth off Kenta Maeda who, who had to be relieved by Tommy Kahnle with one out in the inning. Maeda’s ERA ballooned to 12.00.
The Tigers improved to 12-8 and can win the four-game series at today, when Tigers right-hander Casey Mize faces Royals righty Seth Lugo in a 1:10 p.m. start.
Action Jackson Jobe
Manager A.J. Hinch joked before the game that all he wanted to see out of Jobe in his starts against the Royals was six scoreless innings after a stellar start in his last outing.
Well, Hinch almost got it out of the rookie after Jobe overcame a rocky first inning. In the first frame, he struggled with his control, had a wild pitch, gave up two doubles, allowed a steal and gave up one run while throwing 25 pitches.
Jobe settled down after that, mixing his pitches well, locating better and effectively using his off-speed stuff, allowing just three hits the rest of the way. He threw 87 pitches, with 57 for strikes.
It was an impressive start, even if it wasn’t the dominant performance he had in his last outing, when he earned his first win the majors by holding the Twins scoreless on two hits over six innings.
“I think this is a different style lineup than he just faced,” manager A.J. Hinch said before the game. “And so I think what’s going to be fun to follow with Jackson is how he adjusts to start to start utilizing his stuff.
“I mean, if he can’t just take last week’s game plan and apply it to this lineup. It’s very different. So it may require, you know, more of one pitch or less of another. Strikes are super key against this lineup. Getting ahead is very key.”
Tork! Tork! Tork!
When he led off the second inning, Torkelson walked up to the plate as fans chanted: “Tork! Tork! Tork!”
The hot-hitting first baseman couldn’t oblige them with a Tork Bomb, but worked earned a “Tork On” by working a six-pitch walk against Ragans.
Nido is neat-o
Veteran catcher Tomas Nido, who was called up April 8 after Jake Rogers suffered an oblique injury, got the start again behind the plate after he caught Jobe’s last start.
But Nido, a career .210 hitter, showed off his offensive chops against one of the toughest pitchers in baseball with two hits off Ragans, including a hard single to left that plated the Tigers’ first run. He also had a single off Chris Stratton in the eighth and finished 3-for-4.
Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on X @cmonarrez.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers score: Jackson Jobe overcomes first inning to crush Royals