Royals rally for 5-2 win over Tigers

7/13/2014

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Eric Hosmer’s RBI double capped a five-run seventh inning and Kansas City avoided a four-game sweep on Sunday with a 5-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Four of the runs were charged to Justin Verlander (8-8), who started the inning with a two-hit shutout but loaded the bases on three straight singles.

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The come-from-behind win still leaves the second-place Royals 6½ games behind the Tigers in the AL Central.

Since June 18 when K.C. beat the Tigers for their 10th straight win and went a season-best seven games over .500, the Royals have gone 9-14 while the Tigers went 17-6.

Verlander gave up six hits in 6 1/3 innings, struck out three and walked one.

Yordano Ventura (7-7) pitched 1 2/3 innings in his first career relief appearance and got the win.

He allowed one hit and striking out three for the Royals, who beat the Tigers for only the first time in seven tries this year in Kauffman Stadium.

Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 26 opportunities.

After Raul Ibanez loaded the bases in the seventh with a single that snapped a 0-for-25 skid, Alcides Escobar brought in a run with a slow-rolling infield single that second baseman Ian Kinsler failed to pick up cleanly. A second run then scored on Jarrod Dyson’s fielder’s choice.

Ian Krol replaced Verlander and after intentionally walking pinch hitter Salvador Perez, gave up a two-run single to Omar Infante that made it 4-2. Hosmer’s double stretched his career-best hitting streak to a 13 games.

Rajai Davis and Austin Jackson opened the third with back-to-back singles and the Tigers took a 2-0 lead on Miguel Cabrera’s sacrifice fly and a two-out bloop single by J.D. Martinez, which fell in between shortstop Escobar and left fielder Ibanez as Jackson came around from first.

NOTES: Jackson proved a perfect leadoff hitter in this series, starting all four games with a base hit, three singles and a double. ... Martinez made two nifty running catches in the right-field corner. Martinez was also 3 for 4. ... These were the only home games for the Royals during a 19-game stretch that began on June 30 and runs through July 23. ... The Royals, Dodgers, Yankees and Mariners are the only major league teams with losing records at home and winning marks on the road. ... All nine of Detroit’s hits were singles.