DETROIT -- Royals rookie Ryan Bergert had been there before. More than a few times, in fact. He was in control of the scenario, his team was rolling and he was on the line for his first win with his new club.
Until he wasn’t.
On Friday night, Riley Greene was to blame. Just one batter after Bergert was taken out in favor of Angel Zerpa, the Tigers’ slugger mashed a game-tying two-out home run in the bottom of the sixth to steal both Bergert’s impending celebration and the wind from the Royals’ sails.
Detroit then used a four-run seventh to seal the series-opening win at Comerica Park, 7-5, and hand Kansas City just its third loss in the past 11 games.
“Really impressive outing. Kept himself under control, gives up the one homer and pitches efficiently into the sixth inning,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “The at-bats against [Detroit starter Casey] Mize were great, and we had a chance to probably open it up more, but I give [the Tigers] credit for stepping up, stemming the tide and keeping [the deficit] there at three.”
That Bergert has just one win over 15 career games (11 starts) despite a 2.79 ERA suggests he is more a victim of circumstance than anything else. The Royals’ righty had little trouble early against the American League Central-leading Tigers. In fact, he had little trouble throughout, retiring the first seven batters he saw to start the game before Zach McKinstry connected for a solo home run in the third. Bergert shrugged it off and calmly responded by sitting down seven of the next eight Tigers to bring McKinstry back up.
McKinstry tripled, and Bergert rendered it harmless by coaxing Javier Báez into an inning-ending popup. No mess, no fuss.
“Even the home run was a good pitch. He made a good pitch, and sometimes, we just need to tip our hat to the hitter,” catcher Salvador Perez said. “... You don’t see that [composure] in young guys. He’s one of the youngest guys on the staff, and he’s pretty good.”
“I didn’t try to make the situation bigger than it was,” said Bergert, who came to Kansas City in a Deadline trade with the Padres and has made four starts with the Royals.
Five innings in behind Bergert, Kansas City led, 3-1, thanks to Bobby Witt Jr.’s RBI single and a two-run double from Perez. Bergert had drawn 12 swings and misses at that point, his slider was as nasty as ever, the Royals were hitting Mize hard and things were going well.
Until they weren’t.
After Bergert allowed a one-out single from Gleyber Torres in the sixth, he rebounded to retire the next batter, as he’d done after McKinstry’s two hits. That brought up the left-handed-hitting Greene, and Quatraro elected to lean into the matchup, signaling to the ’pen for southpaw reliever Zerpa.
Zerpa hung a slider six pitches later that Greene sent over the wall in right-center. The Tigers then took the opening and ran with it, tacking on four more runs in the seventh off reliever Bailey Falter.
The Royals looked to bow out quietly in the ninth until Vinnie Pasquantino’s two-out, two-run homer. The Statcast-projected 411-foot blast was Pasquantino’s 27th of the season and marked his fifth consecutive game with a long ball, tying a franchise record set by Perez in 2021 and Mike Sweeney in 2002.
Though the final score wasn’t ideal for a team just three games out of an AL Wild Card spot with a little more than a month left to claw its way into the postseason, there were no glaring concerns to address afterward. Sometimes, it’s less about what one team did wrong and more about what the other did right. Perez said on these occasions, there is little to do other than flush the defeat and move on.
Bergert’s lack of more victories is much the same situation: There is no specific issue to harp on or skill that’s lacking; there just hasn’t been a win since he joined his new club. Kansas City is the same charged post-All-Star team it was before it landed in Detroit. Bergert can still very much own carrying a sub-3.00 ERA in his first MLB season.
Each side just must stay focused and keep grinding.
Until the wins come.