Royals 8, Tigers 3 (10)
George Kottaras drew a bases-loaded walk to force in the go-ahead run before Alex Gordon launched a grand slam as visiting Kansas City earned a split of the rain-shortened two-game series.
Gordon clubbed his first career slam off Darin Downs one out after Phil Coke (0-3) walked his third batter of the inning along with throwing a wild pitch to send Detroit to its fifth defeat in six games.
Tim Collins (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless inning before closer Greg Holland retired all three batters in the 10th for the Royals, who got three hits from Billy Butler and two apiece from Gordon, Alcides Escobar, Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain.
Tigers ace Justin Verlander allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits before leaving after seven innings with cracked skin on his right thumb. Royals starter James Shields went eight innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three wild pitches.
After Miguel Cabrera and Butler traded RBI singles, Kansas City's Salvador Perez and Detroit's Jhonny Peralta each had sacrifice flies in the fourth to make it 2-2 before Torii Hunter's one-out single in the fifth put the Tigers on top 3-2. Verlander's exit helped the Royals to pull even when Cain delivered a sacrifice fly in the eighth against Bruce Rondon, who was making his major-league debut.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Butler had two of his three hits off Verlander to move past Minnesota's Joe Mauer for the most career hits against Detroit's ace with 23. ... Tigers CF Austin Jackson's leadoff double in the first inning snapped a hitless streak at 26 at-bats, the longest streak for a Tigers player since Wendell Magee (29) in 2001. ... Cabrera extended his hitting streak to nine games for Detroit, which will welcome the Atlanta Braves to Comerica Park for a three-game series beginning Friday. Kansas City will open a 10-game homestand Friday with a four-game set against Cleveland.