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Royals beat Tigers 1-0 for 1st win

Posted at 3:49 PM, Apr 03, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-03 15:49:10-04

DETROIT (AP) — Jake Junis took a shutout into the eighth inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday for their first victory of the season.

On a chilly, rainy day — with snow a possibility Wednesday — the Tigers and Royals breezed through nine innings in 2 hours, 17 minutes. Jorge Soler, who still doesn’t have a major league hit since July 2, drove in the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly in the second.

Junis (1-0) allowed three hits in seven-plus innings. The 25-year-old right-hander walked one and struck out six before being lifted after Mikie Mahtook’s leadoff single in the eighth.

Justin Grimm finished that inning, and Kelvin Herrera struck out two in a perfect ninth for his first save.

Matthew Boyd (0-1) was sharp for the Tigers, allowing a run and four hits in six innings.

The only run came after Cheslor Cuthbert led off the second with a flare that dropped over first baseman Miguel Cabrera and bounced down the line. By the time Cabrera retrieved the ball, Cuthbert had a double. He went to third on flyout and scored on Soler’s flyball.

Soler went 0 for 2 and is hitless in his last 31 at-bats in the majors.

Cabrera struck out with two on in the second, and the Tigers missed a scoring chance in the third when James McCann hit what looked at first like a clean line drive up the middle. Second baseman Whit Merrifield was shifted over, however, and made the catch — then doubled Nicholas Castellanos off first.