Tigers Lose To The Royals 11-8
DETROIT (AP) - Jeff Francoeur homered for his 1,000th career hit and drove in three runs, and the Kansas City Royals outlasted the Detroit Tigers 11-8 Thursday to salvage a split of their four-game series.
Johnny Giavotella hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning against Luis Marte, who was making his major league debut. Eric Hosmer added a solo shot in the eighth. Hosmer also had two singles and two walks.
Francoeur opened the scoring with a two-run homer in the second.
Aaron Crow (4-4) allowed three runs in the sixth, his only inning of work, but was credited with the win after the Royals reclaimed the lead in the seventh. Phil Coke (2-9) got the loss.
Joakim Soria earned his 25th save.
Magglio Ordonez homered, doubled twice and even stole a base for the first-place Tigers, who lead Cleveland and the Chicago White Sox by 5 1/2 games in the AL Central. Detroit won the middle two games of the series against Kansas City with late-inning rallies and took an 8-6 lead Thursday on a two-run homer by Austin Jackson.
But the Royals came back. Francoeur hit an RBI double off Coke, and Mike Moustakas followed with a tying RBI single. Giavotella's soft single to left put Kansas City ahead to stay.
The Royals scored four runs in both the fifth and seventh innings, batting around each time.
Detroit rookie Jacob Turner struggled in his second career start, allowing six runs and seven hits in 4 1-3 innings.
Kansas City's Danny Duffy had problems of his own, allowing five runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out four, walked three and overthrew his catcher on an intentional walk in the third inning for a bizarre wild pitch.
That was emblematic of a sloppy game. In the sixth, Kansas City's Alcides Escobar struck out swinging on an inside pitch that appeared to hit his right shoulder.
The Royals made up for those bloopers later on, and Francoeur, Hosmer and Giavotella had three hits each. Moustakas extended his hitting streak to 15 games, and Hosmer extended his to 10.
NOTES: Brandon Inge played his 979th game at third base for the Tigers, tying Tom Brookens for third at that position on the team's career list. ... The Tigers begin a big three-game series with the White Sox at home Friday night. They'll send ace Justin Verlander to the mound against John Danks. ... Kansas City hosts Cleveland for a three-game set. Bruce Chen will start Friday night for the Royals against Justin Masterson.
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