Tigers 3, Royals 2
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jordan Zimmermann kept putting up zeros, and Victor Martinez collected his 1,000th career RBI as the Detroit Tigers staved off the Kansas City Royals 3-2 Wednesday night.
Zimmermann, whom the Tigers signed to a five-year, $110 million free agent contract on Nov. 30, pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings to extend his shutout streak to 19 1/3 innings in winning his first three Detroit starts.
Zimmermann allowed seven hits, six of them singles, walked one and struck out eight.
He was removed in the seventh after a Salvador Perez double and an Omar Infante infield hit. Mark Lowe replaced Zimmermann and retired Jarrod Dyson and Alcides Escobar on ground balls to end the threat.
Martinez's two-out, sixth-inning single scored Ian Kinsler, who was hit by a pitch. He became the fifth Venezuelan-born player with 1,000 RBIs in the majors.
Royals starter Ian Kennedy (2-1) pitched well, but he could not match Zimmermann. Kennedy surrendered two runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings, walking two and striking out seven, throwing 61 strikes in 97 pitches.
Kennedy exited with the bases loaded in the seventh, but Luke Hochevar bailed him out. Hochevar struck out Kinsler and got Justin Upton to fly out to right to strand the runners.
Kinsler's run-producing single in the ninth made it 3-0 and gave him his major-league-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who led off the inning with a double off Chien-Ming Wang, scored on Kinsler's hit.
Francisco Rodriguez worked the ninth to log his 390th save, tying Hall of Famer Dennis Eckersley for sixth on the all-time saves list, but not before giving up back-to-back home runs to Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez.
Rodriguez walked Dyson and Escobar with two outs before striking out Mike Moustakas to end the game.
Kennedy walked Saltalamacchia to lead off the third. With one out, Jose Iglesias singled to right, advancing Saltalamacchia to third. Iglesias, however, was thrown out by right fielder Dyson while attempting to stretch his hit to a double. Kinsler's two-out double to center scored Saltalamacchia, his sixth hit in nine at-bats against Kennedy.
It could have been a bigger inning, but shortstop Escobar made an amazing running, over-the-shoulder, leaping catch of Justin Upton's fly to shallow left to rob him of an RBI hit.
NOTES: Tigers DH Victor Martinez, who was hit on the right kneecap by a Kelvin Herrera pitch in the eighth inning Tuesday and Andrew Romine ran for him, was back in the lineup. ... The Tigers recalled OF Cameron Maybin from his rehab assignment, but it's a procedure move as he remains on the disabled list. Maybin, who is sidelined with a left wrist fracture, was hit by a pitch Sunday. He likely will restart his rehab assignment Saturday with Triple-A Toledo when the wrist should not be so sore. ... The Royals sent Triple-A 1B Cody Decker to the Rockies for cash considerations. He was impressive in spring training, slugging .523 with three home runs and three doubles. ... RHP Logan Kensing, designated for assignment by the Tigers on Tuesday, cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Toledo. ... Tigers RHP Mike Pelfrey and Royals RHP Edinson Volquez are the probables for the Thursday series finale.