'Big-time win': Witt, Estévez step up in 10th to snap Royals' six-game skid

DETROIT -- Music blared out of the visiting clubhouse at Comerica Park, and the Royals were all smiles as they packed up their stuff to finally head home Sunday afternoon.

That’s what snapping a six-game losing streak will do. The Royals’ 4-3 win over the Tigers in 10 innings at Comerica Park sent Kansas City into the team off-day in a good mood and on a good note.

“It was a big-time win for us,” starter Michael Wacha said. “Snapping that losing streak and getting back in the win column was absolutely huge.”

It had been a whole week since the Royals celebrated a win. The fact that they were hopping on a flight to get back to Kansas City after a tough 2-8 road trip and grueling 17-game stretch without an off-day made the celebration that much better.

“Now just build off it,” said Bobby Witt Jr., whose sacrifice fly in the 10th represented the winning run. “That’s all you can do now. … Now it’s just about having a good off-day, reset things and get back home to our fans and be ready to go.”

It was, by all accounts, a disappointing and frustrating three-city swing through Cleveland, New York and Detroit. The Royals only won two games. Their offense evaporated, and their pitching, at times, was wobbly.

A reset after a day off and a return to Kauffman Stadium could probably do some good, especially as the Royals are set to welcome the Rockies (3-17) to Kansas City for three games this coming week.

And momentum from Sunday’s win certainly helps.

“Look, we know we’re going to go through some tough stretches,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “This was a tough road trip against good teams. We’re going to play better than we’ve played this week, that’s for sure. You just don’t know when it’s going to happen. But any day is an opportunity to make the most of it.”

All the Royals had to do Sunday was get past reigning American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. He had thrown back-to-back scoreless starts and would face an offense that entered Sunday having scored just 2.86 runs per game this year and were batting only .179 and .109 (5-for-46) in scoring situations during their six-game losing streak.

The Royals didn’t seem to care about all that.

They ran Skubal’s pitch count up to 91 through five innings and jumped to an early lead against him in the second. Maikel Garcia and Hunter Renfroe hit back-to-back singles, and Vinnie Pasquantino -- representing the Royals’ only lefty batter against the lefty Skubal and batting seventh for the first time in his career -- poked a two-strike RBI single into left field.

Drew Waters followed with his first RBI of the year as the switch-hitting outfielder continues to take advantage of more playing time.

“Getting him out after five is a win in itself, and hanging two runs on him, make him throw some pitches, that’s a good day,” outfielder Mark Canha said. “It’s a good day off Tarik Skubal. We’ll take it.”

The Tigers tied the game against Wacha with two runs in the fifth inning and took the lead in the seventh against Daniel Lynch IV, snapping the lefty’s 31-inning scoreless streak that dated back to Aug. 26, 2024.

But the Royals came right back in the eighth, with Canha rolling a ground ball through the middle gap to score Witt. The Royals’ swings and approaches looked much simpler on Sunday -- what has probably been missing the most in the midst of an offensive slump.

“They didn’t try to do too much,” Quatraro said. “[Skubal] doesn’t really allow you to try to do too much. He’s got such good stuff.”

Quatraro handed the ball to closer Carlos Estévez in the ninth inning, hoping to stay away from Lucas Erceg, who is still recovering from Friday’s left foot contusion. A seven-pitch inning from Estévez meant he would go back out for the 10th.

By then, he was pitching with the lead. Jonathan India hit a hard ground ball to the right side of the infield, allowing Waters, as the automatic runner in extra innings, to advance to third base. Witt drove a ball to left field for the sacrifice fly and winning run.

Estévez worked out of a jam when he had runners on first and third with two outs.

“We knew it had to be like that,” Canha said. “It had to be a grindy win, scrape one out there. That hopefully gets us back on the right track.”