Nothing better than a walk-off home run to send the fans home happy!
Brandon Dixon’s three-run home run in the 10th inning lifted the Detroit Tigers to a 5-2 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park! His blast came after Nicholas Castellanos hit an infield single followed by Niko Goodrum reaching on another infield hit. With a 1-2 count, Dixon crushed the pitch from Kansas City’s Ian Kennedy over the fence in right-center for his first ever walk-off home run!
He entered the game in the 8th inning as a pinch hitter, and struck out in his first at-bat.
“It was unreal,” Dixon said of his first walk-off home run as a Tiger. “Honestly, I didn’t think it was going (out) by the right fielder’s reaction. I hit it well, but he (Kansas City’s Jorge Soler) was kind of jogging back and I was like, ‘Oh man, maybe I didn’t get it as well as I thought.’
“Then I saw him jump up. Pretty exciting to see all your teammates waiting for you at home plate.”
“He (Kennedy) was kind of living on the corner, just a little bit off, trying to get those calls,” Dixon continued. “I was just trying to protect the outer half and trying to put the ball in play, and he threw me a breaking ball (knuckle curveball) that kind of popped out of his hand.
“I saw it right away and I was able to stay on it and hit it the other way.”
Meanwhile, Spencer Turnbull pitched seven strong innings. He allowed one run on six hits and a walk. He threw 102 pitches — 68 for strikes — and struck out seven. His current ERA is 2.31, after he entered the game with the 7th ranked ERA in the AL with 2.53.
