Tigers use 26 hits to dominate Royals in 16-2 victory
By Brad Rowland
At this point of the 2013 season, the general public has an understanding of just how good the Detroit Tigers offense can be. However, Friday night’s performance may have shown an even higher ceiling than many anticipated.
The Tigers belted a staggering 26 hits against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night, and with that barrage, pounded the Royals in a 16-2 victory. Both Omar Infante and Andy Dirks had career nights, going 5-for-5 at the plate, and the fun didn’t stop there in the dominant win.
The aforementioned Infante drove in 6 runs (while scoring 2 of his own) on his 5 hits, while Dirks scored 4 runs with his legs after reaching base in each and every at-bat. Elsewhere, center fielder Austin Jackson and catcher Alex Avila had 3 hits each, giving the quartet 16 total hits between them. Even with all of that, however, the most interesting statistic of the night hasn’t been uncovered.
The Tigers did not hit a single home run.
It seems insane to see a 16-run outburst in an MLB game without a home run, but the Tigers accomplished just that. In fact, the team didn’t generate a triple either, instead totaling twenty singles to go with six doubles, in one of the more interesting box scores in recent memory.
We would be remiss to not mention another sterling start from Anibal Sanchez (7 innings, 1 ER, 5 strikeouts), but the offense gets the deserved headlines here. For the Royals, there is no shame in being blown out by this version of the Tigers, but this was one of the most one-sided games that you’ll ever see in the Major Leagues.