KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Brandon Moss doubled off the wall in the ninth to score the tying run, and Alex Gordon drove him home with a sacrifice fly to bail out closer Kelvin Herrera and give the Kansas City Royals a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night.
Moss homered in the third inning before coming through against Tigers closer Justin Wilson (3-4) in the ninth — shortly after Mikie Mahtook's two-run shot off Herrera had given Detroit the lead.
Moss went to third on the throw to the plate, and Gordon sent a fly ball to center that was just deep enough to give him his sixth career walk-off RBI and the Royals a much-needed win.
They had lost the first two games of the series and seven of eight overall.
Jason Hammel and three Royals relievers had successfully ushered a 2-1 lead to Herrera, who proceeded to walk Victor Martinez in the ninth. Andrew Romine came in to pinch run and swiped second base, but all that did was shorten his trot home when Mahtook went deep.
Herrera (2-3) threw one more pitch before summoning the training staff and leaving the game. There was no immediate word on whether the Royals' closer was hurt.
Kevin McCarthy (1-0) got the final two outs to earn the win.
Justin Verlander scattered six hits and a walk over seven innings while striking out eight, but he was in line for the loss after Mike Moustakas hit an RBI single in the seventh. Bruce Rondon kept Detroit close with a scoreless eighth before Wilson let things get away from him in the ninth.
Verlander retired the first seven batters he faced. And after Moss sent an 0-1 pitch off the foul pole in right for a tying home run, Verlander proceeded to breeze through the next couple of innings.
He even helped himself by picking off Jorge Bonifacio at second base to end the sixth.
But Hammel matched him inning-for-inning after the first, when he gave up two singles and Miguel Cabrera drove in the game's first run. Hammel retired the next nine batters he faced, then six more after Nicholas Castellanos managed a single in the fourth.
MARINERS 4, ASTROS 1 James Paxton had another strong start against Houston and rookie Ben Gamel powered the offense with a two-run homer to give Seattle a win over the Astros. Paxton (9-3) allowed six hits and one run in seven innings, after not allowing a run in his previous two starts against Houston this season. It’s the fourth straight win for Paxton, who struck out seven.
ORIOLES 10, RANGERS 2 Kevin Gausman pitched six innings of four-hit ball, Adam Jones homered and scored three runs and Baltimore beat faltering Texas. Trey Mancini contributed two hits in a seven-run seventh inning, including a bases-loaded triple, and Jonathan Schoop finished with three hits and three RBIs.
RED SOX 5, BLUE JAYS 1 Dustin Pedroia drove in three, Drew Pomeranz pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning and Boston beat Toronto. Pomeranz (10-4) allowed an unearned run over 6 2/3 innings to win his fourth straight decision. TWINS 6, YANKEES 1 Miguel Sano hit a three-run home run, Jose Berrios went strong into the seventh inning and Minnesota beat New York to win its first home series against the Yankees in nine years.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
METS 7, CARDINALS 3 Staked to an early lead, Jacob deGrom pitched into the seventh inning and won his career-best seventh straight start as the Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals. New York jumped on Mike Leake (6-8) for seven runs in the first two innings and cruised from there behind deGrom to snap a three-game losing streak.