Royals 3, Tigers 1
Bruce Chen struck out seven over six scoreless innings to lead the Kansas City Royals to a 3-1 win over the host Detroit Tigers on Saturday.
Chen (1-0) allowed just three hits and one walk. Joakim Soria surrendered a two-out solo home run to Ryan Raburn in the ninth inning to break up the shutout but notched his second save.
The Royals (5-3) scored twice in the second inning off Tigers’ starter Phil Coke (0-2). Billy Butler led off the inning with a walk and one out later Jeff Francoeur followed with a single. Wilson Betemit then drove in one run with a single and Alcides Escobar drove in the second with a fielder’s choice.
Francoeur’s sacrifice fly in the ninth inning capped the Royals’ scoring.
Coke fanned seven in 6 2/3 innings. He allowed three hits and four walks.
The Tigers (3-5) had the bases loaded in the eighth, but Robinson Tejada fanned Magglio Ordonez to end the inning.