Kansas City sets season high for hits, runs in rout

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Brandon Moss drove in four runs, Mike Moustakas had three RBIs and the Kansas City Royals routed the error-prone Detroit Tigers 16-4 on Thursday night.

Eric Hosmer and Whit Merrifield homered for the Royals, who moved within 1½ games of firstplace Cleveland in the AL Central. The 16 runs and 19 hits were season highs for Kansas City.

Detroit committed three errors in the Royals' four-run first inning, when only one run was earned. It was the most errors the Tigers have made in an inning since May 1, 2010.

Michael Fulmer, the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year, threw 37 pitches in the first. The heat index was 107 when the game started.

Fulmer (10-7), who had won his previous four starts, was removed after facing 18 batters. He retired only eight, and eight scored. It was the shortest outing of his career.

Hosmer hit his 14th homer in the four-run third, a prodigious 444-foot shot. Merrifield homered in a four-run sixth off Chad Bell.

Moss, who had three hits and two RBIs in Wednesday's victory, drilled a two-out, two-run double to right-center in the third. Alex Gordon doubled home Moss to chase Fulmer.

Danny Duffy (6-6) was staked to an 8-0 lead, but struggled to make it into the sixth inning. Ian Kinsler had a two-run double for Detroit in a three-run fifth.

Duffy faced three batters in the sixth and gave up three hits and a run, on Miguel Cabrera's single. With Victor Martinez coming to the plate and two runners on in an 8-4 game, Mike Minor replaced Duffy and retired all three batters he faced.

The Royals expanded their lead with four runs in the bottom of the inning. Hosmer and Salvador Perez each hit an RBI single, and Moustakas had a sacrifice fly.

The Royals sent 10 batters to the plate in a four-run eighth, highlighted by Moss' two-run single.

Duffy gave up nine hits, walked none and struck out four.

BLUE JAYS 8, RED SOX 6 Justin Smoak hit a pair of homers and Steve Pearce drove in two runs when Boston second baseman Brock Holt lost his popup in the sun, giving Toronto a four-game split. Including the 15-inning game on Tuesday with the Blue Jays, the AL East-leading Red Sox played 76 innings in about 144 hours — the equivalent of 8 1/2 games in six days. Dominic Leone (2-0) earned the win. Starter Francisco Liriano got just five outs before but Toronto came back with four in the third to take a 5-3 lead against Doug Fister (0-4).

ORIOLES 9, RANGERS 7 Jonathan Schoop and Adam Jones both homered and drove in three runs, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied to beat Cole Hamels and the Texas Rangers to complete a four-game sweep. Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis also went deep for the Orioles, who trailed 5-1 in the fifth inning before coming back to hand Hamels (4-1) his first loss in 10 starts this season. Baltimore hit 10 home runs in the series and outscored Texas 34-11.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

METS 3, CARDINALS 2 Cardinals pitcher Trevor Rosenthal was late covering first base on a two-out grounder by Jose Reyes that turned into a game-winning single in the ninth inning for the New York Mets. A leadoff walk and T.J. Rivera’s single put runners on the corners with two outs. Reyes then hit a grounder up the first base line, and Matt Carpenter fielded it cleanly well behind the bag. Rosenthal (2-4) was slow to leave the mound, and the speedy Reyes easily beat him to the base with a headfirst dive.

Upcoming Events