Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) – Austin Jackson went 3-for-4 and singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 6-4 win over the Kansas City Royals in the middle test of a three-game series.
Jackson also hit a home run in the fifth inning for Detroit, which has won three in a row. Miguel Cabrera, who did not play Friday because of biceps tendinitis, added a two-run double in the victory.
Rick Porcello (8-11) took the victory after pitching seven innings, in which he allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk.
Jose Valverde pitched a scoreless ninth to get his 25th save and spare the Tigers from playing a fourth consecutive extra-inning game. They lost to Minnesota in 10 innings Wednesday before beating the Twins in 13 the following day. Detroit then won the opener of this series in the 11th inning Friday.
Billy Butler had three hits, while Kila Ka’aihue added a two-run homer and drove in three to lead the Royals’ offense. Ka’aihue has three homers this season, all of which have come against Detroit.
Bruce Chen got the start for Kansas City, which has lost three in a row, and allowed four runs in 4 2/3 innings.
The Tigers got to him for two runs in the first inning, when they put runners on the corners with one out before Cabrera smacked a double to left-center. Jhonny Peralta’s sacrifice fly in the third inning made it a 3-0 game, but the Royals got on the board in the home half.
With runners on the corners and two away, Butler and Ka’aihue hit back-to-back RBI singles.
Jackson’s homer put Detroit up 4-2 before Ka’aihue’s blast in the sixth evened the contest.
But in the eighth, Royals reliever Dusty Hughes (1-2) allowed consecutive one- out singles to Max St. Pierre and Will Rhymes. After Hughes was replaced by Blake Wood, Jackson singled to right to plate a run. Rhymes then scored on a passed ball to give the Tigers a two-run cushion.
Phil Coke pitched a scoreless eighth before Valverde took over in the ninth.
Rhymes went 2-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to 12 games…Peralta went 0- for-3. He had gotten a hit in 11 straight starts…St. Pierre, 30, was playing in his first major league game.