Tigers waste another pitching gem by Olson, blanked by Royals, 8-0
Chris McCoskyDetroit — Reese Olson spun a beauty Friday afternoon, holding the Kansas City Royals to one run and three hits over a career-high tying seven innings. But, but just like his scoreless effort on April 15 against the Rangers, there will be a L next to his name.
The Tigers' hitters were befuddled for seven innings by multi-pitch wizard Seth Lugo and the Royals blew the game open with a seven-run ninth and took the first of a three-game weekend series at Comerica Park, 8-0.
Going back to last season, Olson has allowed two runs or less in nine of 11 starts and he's 3-6 in those games, 0-4 this season.
"His job is to pitch well and give us a chance to win and he's really good at doing his part," manager AJ Hinch said. "I don't think he gets caught up in tough losses or us not scoring runs for him or whatever. His job is pretty clearly defined: go out there and get outs.
"He's way balanced as a human. He's really good at going out keeping his focus on the right things and doing his part."
What chaps him, though, are the free passes. He issued three of them Friday and all of them put him in duress.
"I felt pretty good," Olson told reporters after the game. "Rog (catcher Jake Rogers) called a great game and stole me some strikes back there (framing pitches). I'm tired of walking people, but other than that, good start."
The lone run off Olson came in the third inning. He set down the first seven before giving up back-to-back singles to the Nos. 8 and 9 hitters, Adam Frazier and Kyle Isbel. He walked Maikel Garcia to load the bases with one out. But Olson limited the damage to a sacrifice by Bobby Witt, Jr.
He got Witt to fly out with two on and two outs in the fifth, as well. A two-out walk to Isbel rolled the lineup over and created the high-stress battle with Witt.
"The walks got him into a couple of innings but he was able to pitch out of a couple of jams," Hinch said. "I'm really happy he finished his outing as strong as he did. The seventh is an inning he hasn't seen a ton."
Olson, who struck out eight, mixed all five of his pitches, leaning heavily on his slider and changeup. The spin rate hit 3,100 rpm on his slider.
The ninth was bizarre. Lefty Tyler Holton's control has been impeccable last year and so far this season. He'd hit just two batters in his big-league career. But in the ninth, he hit back-to-back hitters — Frazier and Isbel — with the bases loaded.
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"He rarely misfires at all," Hinch said. "But a couple of singles and he just lost command. Which was very unusual. Back-to-back lefties, those are perfect matchups for him and he just sailed the ball to their elbows and I took him out."
Garcia followed with a two-run single and Witt lashed a two-run triple off Will Vest. Five of the seven runs were charged to Holton.
Before that outburst, though, the Tigers were still hunting for that one swing that might change the game. It never came against Lugo.
Lugo is one of three pitchers in baseball with an 8-pitch repertoire and used all of them to tie his career high with nine strikeouts. The Tigers were taking a lot of fastballs, four-seam and two-seam, which is a curious strategy against a pitcher with so many different shapes. They took 16 called strikes off those two fastballs.
"He's a throwback to the guy who pitches and moves the ball around and changes speeds," Hinch said. "He does things a little bit opposite of what you expect and he competes. He's off to a really good start this season because he knows how to pitch."
Lugo also got a huge assist from his right fielder. Frazier, who stands 5-10, leaped high above the wall in right field to take what would have been a two-run homer away from Parker Meadows in the third inning. Frazier fired the ball back into first base and doubled off Javier Báez, who reached on a walk.
"That was a good play," Hinch said. "It was the difference between two runs and no runs. It looked like the wind might've held that ball up a little, but I couldn't really tell. But he made a great play at a big moment."
Right-hander John Schreiber, the former Tiger from Gibraltar Carlson High School, pitched a scoreless eighth when the game was still close.
The Royals are now 17-10 on the season. The Tigers, 10-4 on the road, fall to 4-8 at Comerica. It was the third time they were shutout this season.
@cmccosky