Tigers 6, Royals 5
DETROIT -- Reliever Yohan Pino's throwing error on Ian Kinsler's bunt single with nobody out in the ninth inning let Anthony Gose score from second base and deliver the Detroit Tigers a 6-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals in their weekend battle for first place in the American League Central.
Gose ripped the first pitch from Pino (0-1) into the right field corner for a double and Kinsler bunted his second delivery toward the third base side of the mound. Kinsler had the bunt beat out for a single, but Pino's desperation throw sailed way past first and Gose scored easily.
Right-hander Joakim Soria (2-0) earned the victory, pitching a scoreless ninth inning.
Left fielder Alex Gordon's one-out RBI single to center in the seventh inning gave Kansas City a 5-4 lead that only lasted until the bottom of the inning. Gose singled, stole second, went to third on catcher Salvador Perez's throwing error and scored when designated hitter Victor Martinez hit into a force out.
Left-hander David Price gave up 13 hits in 6 1/3 innings with just one strikeout for Detroit while his counterpart for Kansas City, right-hander Yordano Ventura, worked six innings with eight hits, three walks and four strikeouts.
Ventura was making his first start after serving a seven-game suspension for his part in an April 23 incident in Chicago. Price had to leave the game because he slipped on a bat backing up home plate on Gordon's RBI single and twisted his right ankle.
The teams traded four-run innings to produce a tie game entering the fifth inning.
Kansas City trailed 4-0 before a two-run home run Perez in the fourth cut Detroit's lead in half. Second baseman Omar Infante doubled and scored on a single by third baseman Christian Colon to make it 4-3 later in the inning. Shortstop Alcides Escobar singled, and Colon scored the tying run when Tigers' third baseman Nick Castellanos threw the ball into the stands after fielding a grounder hit by center fielder Lorenzo Cain.
The Tigers used a four-run second inning to jump on top. Third-base coach Dave Clark bravely waved two runners home from second on base hits in that inning, and both scored.
Shortstop Andrew Romine's two-run ground single to right brought in the first two runs of the inning, and second baseman Kinsler's two-run single in the same place scored the others. Perez dropped the ball at the plate while Castellanos was scoring on Romine's hit, and Romine slid around Perez's late tag on Kinsler's hit.
NOTES: Kansas City made a flurry of player moves Friday. SS Alcides Escobar was activated off the seven-day concussion list and returned to the starting lineup, 3B Mike Moustakas was placed on the three-day bereavement/family emergency list, LHP Jason Vargas was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a left flexor tendon strain, RHP Yohan Pine was recalled from Triple-A Omaha to replace him and C Francisco Pena was optioned to Omaha to create a spot for newly acquired C Drew Butera. ... Detroit SS Jose Iglesias was not in the starting lineup Friday for the second straight game. ... Tigers RHP Joe Nathan, out for the season with Tommy John and right flexor tendon surgeries, was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day disabled list.