Detroit Tigers lose fifth straight, Kerry Carpenter injured

Kansas City, Mo. — The losing streak is now five games. The road record is now an MLB-worst 6-16.

The Kansas City Royals prolonged the Tigers’ misery Saturday night with a relatively breezy 5-1 win at Kauffman Stadium.

Oh, and the Tigers might’ve lost another player in the process.

Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. rounds the bases after hitting an inside-the-park home run during the first inning.

Right fielder Kerry Carpenter left the game in the third inning. He banged his left shoulder running into the side wall chasing Bobby Witt, Jr.’s first-inning, two-run, inside-the-park home run.

Witt, a right-handed hitter, sliced a drive inside the bag at first. Carpenter chased it toward the side wall, but the ball caromed past him. Witt never stopped running.

Carpenter stayed in the game and even rolled an infield single in the second inning. But he was replaced by Wenceel Perez when the Royals came to bat in the third inning.

He was being evaluated during the game.

The two-run homer by Witt ended up being more than the Tigers’ sputtering offense could overcome. But, for good measure, Michael Massey added a three-run home run off Ty Madden in the fourth inning.

Madden ended up being one of the few bright spots in the game for the Tigers. He pitched six innings and allowed just one other hit. He set down the last 11 hitters he faced.

He entered in the third inning after opener Burch Smith and lefty worked one time through the Royals’ batting order.