Avila, Tigers down Royals
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Alex Avila smacked a two-run homer among his two hits and three RBI and the Detroit Tigers defeated the Kansas City Royals, 5-1, in the third test of a four-game set.
Rick Porcello (12-5) allowed a run on six hits and three walks over seven innings for the Tigers, who have won five straight games.
"I think he's clearly an All-Star," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said of Porcello. "He's got 12 wins. ... There's going to be snubs every year at the All-Star game, and I think he's clearly a snub."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}J.D. Martinez ripped a solo homer among his three hits, Ian Kinsler posted two hits and an RBI and Austin Jackson tallied a pair of hits and a run scored in the triumph.
James Shields (9-5) struck out eight, but surrendered two runs on seven hits for Kansas City, which has dropped six of its last eight tilts.
The Tigers jumped out to a 2-0 lead after plating a run in the third and fourth frames.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jackson hit a two-out double to right-center in the third and Kinsler followed with a base hit to right-center to bring him home.
Torii Hunter belted a one-out triple to right-center and scored on an Avila single two batters later for Detroit's two-run cushion.
Kansas City squandered scoring opportunities in the second and fifth before finally getting on the board in the sixth.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Omar Infante and Billy Butler opened the second with singles to put runners on the corners, but Mike Moustakas struck out and Alcides Escobar grounded into an inning-ending double play.
The Royals had the bases loaded in the fifth, but Lorenzo Cain struck out to end that threat.
"We're not producing runs," said Royals manager Ned Yost. "We get runners in scoring position and we're not taking advantage of it. We're not getting hits, we're not taking advantage of run-scoring opportunities."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Consecutive one-out singles by Salvador Perez and Infante put runners on the corners before Butler's sacrifice fly pushed Perez across, trimming the deficit to 2-1.
Kansas City, though, didn't get a baserunner the rest of the way and Martinez's bullet over the wall in left-center and Avila's two-run moonshot to right-center added insurance in the ninth for Detroit.
Game Notes
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Tigers went 3-for-6 with runners in scoring position while the Royals finished 0-for-5 ... Kansas City has scored just two runs in its last 20 innings.