Royals rally past Tigers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Alcides Esocbar and Jeff Francoeur homered for Kansas City on Tuesday night, and Salvador Perez had the go-ahead RBI in the fifth inning as the Royals topped Detroit 4-2. Jeremy Guthrie (5-3) lasted six innings to improve to 5-0 with six no-decisions in his final 11 starts, the Royals winning 10 of them.
Doug Fister (10-10) allowed three runs on seven hits in 4 1-3 innings for Detroit.
“I pitched to contact and I got the contact, just not the contact I wanted,” Fister said. “I have some things to work out in the bullpen in the next few days.”
Irving Falu, Jarrod Dyson and Escobar strung together consecutive singles off Fister to tie the game. Alex Gordon popped out to shortstop, and Perez hit a hard grounder toward second base that should have resulted in an inning-ending double play.
Second baseman Ramon Santiago fielded the ball and the Tigers got the first out, but shortstop Danny Worth couldn’t get the relay over to first base cleanly, which allowed Dyson to score the go-ahead run.
Francoeur added a homer in the eighth, and the Kansas City bullpen shut out the Tigers the final three innings. Greg Holland handled the ninth for his 16th save.
Notes: Royals 1B Eric Hosmer (strained right shoulder) and 3B Mike Moustakas (groin) will miss the final two games of the season. Manager Ned Yost said neither of the injuries will require surgery. ... RHP Luis Mendoza will start the season finale for Kansas City. ... Prince Fielder played five innings at 1B for Detroit. Leyland said he’ll DH on Wednesday.