Tigers 4, Royals 3
Justin Verlander pitched seven strong innings to tie for the major league lead with his 16th win and Victor Martinez drove in a pair of runs as the visiting Detroit Tigers recorded a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday.
Miguel Cabrera added an RBI double for the Tigers, who have won five of their last six games.
Verlander (16-5) struck out eight and walked two while allowing three runs on five hits. It marked just the third time in the last 12 starts that the Cy Young Award candidate allowed more than one earned run.
Detroit took the lead in the top of the first when Cabrera and Martinez reached rookie lefthander Danny Duffy (3-5) for back-to-back RBI hits.
Martinez made it 3-0 in the third when he plated Cabrera with an RBI single.
Jeff Francouer finally got the Royals on the board in the fifth with a solo homer, his 15th of the season.
Joaquin Benoit pitched the eighth and Jose Valverde worked the ninth for his 32nd save of the campaign.
Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson made the defensive play of the game in the first inning, robbing Kansas City leadoff hitter Alex Gordon of a home run when he made a leaping catch at the wall.