DETROIT — Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer drove in two runs apiece to back a strong pitching performance by Jeremy Guthrie as the Kansas City Royals downed the Detroit Tigers 6-2 on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park.
Escobar, the Royals’ shortstop, smacked a leadoff homer and added an RBI single for the Royals (19-11), who moved a half-game ahead of the Tigers atop the American League Central. First baseman Eric Hosmer also drove in runs during the first two innings.
Guthrie (2-2), who allowed six runs on 11 hits to the Tigers in a loss on Sunday, limited Detroit to two runs on eight hits in 7 1/3 innings this time. His only other victory came in his first start on April 11.
Losing pitcher Anibal Sanchez (2-4), who held the Royals to three runs in 7 1/3 innings on Sunday, allowed five earned runs on nine hits in six innings in this game. He was 6-2 with a 1.40 ERA against the Royals entering the game.
Third baseman Nick Castellanos drove in both runs for Detroit (19-12).
Escobar hit Sanchez’s first pitch over the left-field wall for his first home run of the season. Hosmer’s RBI double made it 2-0.
The Royals scored twice more in the second on run-scoring singles by Escobar and Hosmer.
Detroit scored in the bottom of the inning on Castellanos’ sacrifice fly. Catcher Drew Butera’s bases-loaded groundout in the third brought home Kansas City’s fifth run.
Second baseman Omar Infante, who had three hits, made it 6-1 with his fourth-inning RBI single.
Castellanos knocked in the Tigers’ final run with an RBI triple in the sixth.
NOTES: Detroit C Alex Avila was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Saturday, retroactive to Thursday, with a loose body in his right knee. Avila, who is hitting .200 with two home runs and eight RBIs, had an MRI on Friday and will likely require arthroscopic surgery. C Bryan Holaday was recalled from Triple-A Toledo. Holaday, who played 62 games with the Tigers last season, was batting .230 with one home run and nine RBIs in 18 games with the Mud Hens. … Tigers LHP David Price has a mild right hamstring strain and it’s uncertain if he will miss a start. Price, who was injured stepping on a bat while trying to back up home plate on Friday, underwent an MRI on Saturday morning. … Royals RHP Chris Young will start Sunday night’s nationally televised game, according to manager Ned Yost. The 6-foot-10 veteran held the Tigers hitless while striking out nine on May 1 in his only start this season. … The leadoff home run by Royals SS Alcides Escobar was the team’s first since Lorenzo Cain hit one against the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 25, 2014.