Casey Mize, Tigers look to increase Royals’ 5-game skid

Casey Mize endured some bad luck in his first loss this season. The Detroit Tigers right-hander will seek a better outcome against the visiting Kansas City Royals in his fourth start on Saturday afternoon.

Mize allowed just one run total in his first two starts, then gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday. Byron Buxton and Edouard Julien hit solo homers off him, but the other two runs came on a seeing-eye hit and a fielding mistake.

“It certainly wasn’t my best,” Mize said. “But I feel like I was just a couple of things going my way from that outing looking a little different. But still, I made some mistakes that I want back. Overall, I feel like if I do what I did (Sunday) over 30 starts, the outcome is going to be better more times than not.”

Mize didn’t allow a walk for the first time this season as the Twins took an aggressive approach.

“They were just swinging, so I was throwing a ton of strikes,” Mize said. “There didn’t feel like there were many deep counts, even, where I could expand the zone. I was just throwing stuff in the zone more so than not, and they kept putting it in play. I will take that if they give it to me, but that’s going to lead to them finding holes every now and then.”

Detroit manager A.J. Hinch had a similar take on Mize’s outing.

“They chipped away at him a little bit,” he said. “They got some opportunistic hits and ended up working their way through the game and getting him out of there.”

Mize has made 10 career starts against the Royals, posting a 2-2 record and 5.32 ERA.

His mound opponent, Seth Lugo, has been lights out against the Tigers, logging a 3-0 record with a 2.45 ERA in four career starts.

Lugo (1-2, 3.86 ERA) was victimized by the long ball in his last outing. The right-hander surrendered solo homers to Jazz Chisholm Jr., Trent Grisham, Ben Rice and Austin Wells in a 4-1 loss to the New York Yankees. Three of the long balls came in the fifth inning.

“I thought I threw the ball all right,” Lugo said. “I thought I changed speeds pretty well. I made a couple mistakes and they didn’t miss them. But I felt like I made a pretty good adjustment after that one inning and I was able to keep them off-balance. You know, it’s one of those games where those little mistakes cost us big time.”

Kansas City has dropped five straight, including the first two games of the current four-game series. The Tigers collected a 7-3 victory on Friday with the aid of a two-run double by Spencer Torkelson, who has driven in five runs in the series.

The Royals have scored 10 runs during their losing streak.

“We come here to win every day, and that’s the expectation we have as a team,” Kansas City second baseman/designated hitter Michael Massey said. “Obviously, we’re not doing that right now. It’s been a tough road trip.”

–Field Level Media