Royals Beat Tigers 5-1 on Witts Inside-Park HR, Wacha 7 Scoreless

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. hit a two-run inside-the-park home run and starter Michael Wacha tossed seven scoreless innings to lead his team to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Witt's homer came in the bottom of the first inning. Maikel Garcia led off with a double into the left-center gap. Witt then grounded a pitch down the right-field line that bounced off the wall and eluded Tigers right fielder Kerry Carpenter. Carpenter misplayed the ball, allowing Witt to race around the bases and beat the relay throw to the plate for a 2-0 lead. Witt covered home to home in 14.13 seconds at a top sprint speed of 30.4 feet per second, the fourth-fastest time in the Statcast era since 2015. It marked the Royals' first inside-the-park homer since Witt's previous one against the Seattle Mariners on August 14, 2023, also at Kauffman Stadium.

Carpenter, who allowed the ball to roll away after slamming into the wall, later left the game with left shoulder soreness.

Wacha improved to 4-2 with a 2.63 ERA, yielding two hits, walking two and striking out six on 89 pitches. He retired at least one batter via strikeout in each of his first...