ROYALS 15, TIGERS 7
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Lorenzo Cain hit a three-run home run, Paulo Orlando added a two-run shot and Kendrys Morales drove in four runs as the Kansas City Royals routed the Detroit Tigers 15-7 on Thursday night to wrap up another series victory.
Ben Zobrist drove in two runs for the Royals, whose 15 runs and 20 hits were their most since piling up 21 hits in a 16-8 victory at Colorado on July 3, 2011.
Chris Young (10-6) earned the victory with two scoreless innings in relief of Edinson Volquez, who yielded 6 runs, 8 hits and 1 walk in 3 innings.
Volquez still outpitched Matt Boyd, who was hammered for six runs before getting the hook after four batters into the second inning. The last batter he faced was Cain, whose skyscraping home run barely cleared the wall in left field on its descent for his second home run in as many nights.
Reliever Kyle Ryan (1-3) was tagged with the loss as Detroit pitchers allowed 61 runs during a 1-5 trip through Toronto and Kansas City, two teams in the thick of the playoff hunt.
Nick Castellanos drove in three runs for the Tigers while James McCann (Arkansas Razorbacks) drove in two.
After dropping the series opener, the Royals managed 34 hits and 27 runs in taking the next two games. That allowed the American League Central leaders to extend their unbeaten streak to eight consecutive series.
Perhaps coincidentally, their offense came alive in the two games that Jonny Gomes started after his arrival in a trade from Atlanta. Gomes had an RBI double Wednesday night and two hits Thursday night, including another run-scoring double.
All told, the teams combined for 34 hits while leaving 18 on base in a game that lasted 3 hours, 58 minutes. The first inning alone included 76 pitches -- 38 each side -- along with 7 hits, 5 runs and 2 visits from pitching coaches during a 46-minute marathon.
Detroit scored three times in the first, including Anthony Gose's leadoff home run, only for Kansas City to answer with two runs in the bottom half. The Royals scored four in the second, and the Tigers tied the game 6-6 by stringing together a series of hits in the third.
WHITE SOX 6, TWINS 4 J.B. Shuck's two-run, pinch-hit triple in the seventh inning sent Chicago over host Minnesota, the Twins' last home game before beginning a key road trip. Eddie Rosario hit a grand slam for the Twins. Shuck's liner off reliever Casey Fien (4-6) made it 5-4 and helped Chicago win for just the second time in 10 games at Target Field this season. Shuck scored later in the seventh on Adam Eaton's sacrifice fly.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
BREWERS 5, PIRATES 3 Taylor Jungmann pitched six strong innings and host Milwaukee swept Pittsburgh, beating the Pirates for the sixth consecutive time. Domingo Santana homered for Milwaukee, which has outscored the Pirates 39-18 during its run. Jungmann (9-5) gave up one run and three hits. In 3 starts against the Pirates this season, he is 3-0 with a 1.35 ERA in 20 innings.
NATIONALS 15, BRAVES 1 Ryan Zimmerman continued his torrid stretch with three hits and four RBI, Jordan Zimmermann pitched six solid innings and Washington opened a seven-game homestand with a rout of visiting Atlanta. Over his past 11 games, Zimmerman, who was 3 for 3 on Thursday, is 17 for 42 (.405) with 7 home runs and 23 RBI.
ROCKIES 11, GIANTS 3 Carlos Gonzalez homered twice for the second consecutive night, Chris Rusin pitched a complete game and host Colorado routed reeling San Francisco. Gonzalez hit 2 two-run home runs to take the National League lead with a career-high 35. He finished with four hits and drove in four runs to lead Colorado's season-high 19-hit effort. Nolan Arenado homered for the fourth consecutive game.
Sports on 09/04/2015