Cuban Dairon Blanco had a magnificent day in the victory of the Kansas City Royals against the Detroit Tigers with a final score of 11 to 10, in the first game of the series that the division rivals will carry out this week.
Dairon was 9th in the order and right fielder of the Royals and had a perfect day by not failing in four opportunities. The Camagüey native had three hits and three runs, his 7th and 6th of the year, respectively. In addition, he hit two doubles, a triple and was inches away from hitting a home run which, if he had done so, he would be the first Royals player with the cycle since 1990. This game was also the first 4-hit game of his big-league career.
In his first at bat, he hit a triple between left and center that went over the Tigers’ left fielder to score Edward Olivares for Kansas’ first run. The 108.5 mph hit was his third triple of the season. Dairon Blanco showed all his offensive qualities when he scored on a bunt to first base in the fourth inning and towed Drew Waters who was on third.
His next two visits to the plate were both with doubles. The first against Akil Baddoo in the bottom of the sixth. The second was in the eighth inning with a long drive to left field that hit the fence and was inches away from being a home run. If that hit by Blanco had crossed the fence, it would have been his first home run in the majors and to make it more spectacular, it would have been the cycle winner for him on the day.
Blanco’s statements
That ball traveled .395 feet and would have been a home run in 19 of the 30 Major League stadiums. At the conclusion of the clash the 30-year-old was approached by the press to which he responded, “I definitely went out and got it,” White said. “As soon as he came off the bat, I thought he had a chance. But when I saw it hit the wall, I thought it needed five more pushups and it would have gotten away.”
The final numbers of the game, 10 runs and 11 hits with no errors for Detroit, while Kansas City scored 11 on 13 hits and a bobble. Game-winner for Daniel Lynch (3-4, ERA 4.64), with Tarik Skubal (0-1, ERA 5.25) taking the loss.