Tigers 5, Royals 4: Tigers win one for Victor Martinez

Jordan Zimmermann put together a strong effort, and the Tigers won to celebrate Victor Martinez’s last day as an active major league player on Saturday.

On the very first pitch of the game, the Royals’ Whit Merrifield, who is becoming quite the annoyance, tripled to deep centerfield. A lineout to centerfield from Adalberto Mondesi allowed Merrifield to waltz home, and Jordan Zimmermann looked in line for a tough night. The veteran right-hander had other ideas. From that point on, Zimmermann allowed just a solo shot to Alex Gordon in the fourth inning. He went seven innings on three hits, with five strikeouts to two walks and turned things over to the bullpen with a 3-2 lead.

The Tigers’ offense bounced right back after the Royals scored in the first inning. With two down, Nicholas Castellanos, Victor Martinez, and Niko Goodrum all singled to generate a run. Martinez was pulled after his hit, an infield single to second base, and walked off into the sunset. Ronny Rodriguez came on to pinch-run, and Martinez took his final bow.

Goodrum drove in Christin Stewart in the bottom of the third with a fly ball he tucked the opposite way down the left field line. The ground rule double tied the game. The Tigers then took the lead in the fourth when JaCoby Jones scampered home from third on a wild pitch by Jakob Junis.

The Tigers’ last inning relievers continued to look gassed, however. Both Joe Jimenez and Shane Greene allowed a run in the eighth and the ninth respectively. Fortunately, after another hit from Niko Goodrum in the bottom half of the eighth, Mikie Mahtook cranked a two-run shot to give the Tigers enough margin for error, and despite a solo shot by Salvador Perez off of Greene, the Tigers hung on for the win.