DETROIT (AP) — Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas hit consecutive homers in the 12th inning, and the Kansas City Royals won their sixth straight game, 5-3 over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.
Hours after the Royals helped their pitching staff by acquiring Trevor Cahill and two relievers in a trade with San Diego, Kansas City outlasted the Tigers to stay 1 ½ games behind first-place Cleveland in the AL Central. Jorge Bonifacio also homered for the Royals, who won despite squandering a 3-0 lead in the sixth.
Jakob Junis (3-2), one of seven relievers used by Kansas City, pitched a hitless 11th for the win. Kelvin Herrera finished for his 20th save in 23 chances.
Drew VerHagen (0-1) took the loss, allowing the homers to Perez and Moustakas in his third inning of work.
Perez put the Royals up 4-3 with his 20th homer of the year, a line drive that stayed inside the foul pole in left field, to lead off the 12th. Moustakas followed with a drive to right for his 29th home run of 2017.
Amid ongoing speculation he could be traded soon, Justin Verlander allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings for Detroit. He struck out nine and walked two.
Kansas City starter Jason Hammel allowed three runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Kansas City scored first when Bonifacio came home on a wild pitch in the fourth. Moustakas added a sacrifice fly later that inning to make it 2-0.
Bonifacio led off the sixth with his 14th home run, but Detroit scored three runs in the bottom of the inning. Miguel Cabrera hit an RBI single, and Alex Avila lined a two-out, two-run single to left-center off reliever Scott Alexander. It was Avila's third hit all season off a left-hander.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
CARDINALS 8, ROCKIES 2 Randal Grichuk hit a two-run homer, Mike Leake pitched seven scoreless innings and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Colorado Rockies. Leake’s six-strikeout performance was his best since giving up one run over eight innings against Washington on June 30. It was the first win for Leake (7-8) against the Rockies since Aug. 10, 2011. Kevin Siegrist pitched the Cardinals out of a two-on, one-out jam in the eighth by getting Gerardo Parra to strike out and Mark Reynolds to fly out. Tyler Lyons struck out the side in the ninth.
INTERLEAGUE
WHITE SOX 3, CUBS 1 Adam Engel and Matt Davidson homered and the White Sox snapped a nine-game losing streak with a victory over the crosstown rival Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Cubs lost for just the second time in 10 games following the All-Star break to fall a half-game behind idle first-place Milwaukee in the NL Central.
MARLINS 4, RANGERS 0 Giancarlo Stanton hit more two home runs and moved into a tie for the major league lead, sending Adam Conley and the Miami Marlins over the Texas Rangers. Stanton has 32 homers, including six in his last seven games, and matched Yankees rookie Aaron Judge for most in the majors. Stanton hit a two-run drive in the first inning and a solo shot in the eighth.
INDIANS 6, REDS 2 Josh Tomlin pitched six efficient innings, Carlos Santana homered twice and the Cleveland Indians won their fourth straight, topping the tumbling Cincinnati Reds in the makeup of a May 25 rainout. Tomlin (7-9) gave up two homers but stayed in the strike zone and won his third straight start. Cleveland’s bullpen did its part as well, with Andrew Miller working two innings and Cody Allen finishing up.