Fulmer dazzles as Detroit knocks off Kansas City

DETROIT — The crowd cheered Michael Fulmer and booed the decision to pull him.

That was the only real drama at the end — after the talented righthander had shut down Kansas City for almost the entire game.

Fulmer came within one out of a shutout, and the Tigers hit three home runs in a 7-3 victory over the Royals on Thursday. A late Kansas City rally cost Fulmer a complete game after he'd faced only one batter above the minimum through eight innings.

"Just one out short," Fulmer said. "It happens. I felt like, stuff was good all game, and then, even in that ninth inning, get two quick outs. Wasn't trying to overdo anything. I felt like they fouled off some great pitches, and ultimately just found holes that one inning."

Fulmer (7-6) appeared headed for his second big league shutout. He was at only 88 pitches after Alex Gordon grounded out for the second out of the ninth, but then Ramon Torres and Jorge Bonifacio singled, and Drew Butera drove them in with a double.

Justin Upton dropped Eric Hosmer's soft liner to left field for an error, allowing another run to come in. By that point, Fulmer was up to 104 pitches, and the crowd booed when manager Brad Ausmus came out and removed him.

"I just felt like the momentum was shifting and I didn't really want to bring it down to the wire where all of a sudden the tying run's at the plate," Ausmus said. "Trust me, I wanted to see Michael Fulmer go nine innings, too, but I also don't want to give the other team any hope."

Justin Wilson struck out Brandon Moss to end it.

Upton, Ian Kinsler and Andrew Romine went deep for the Tigers. Jakob Junis (2-2) allowed a threerun homer to Upton in the first, as well as a solo shot by Kinsler in the third and a two-run drive by Romine in the fourth.

Fulmer retired his first nine hitters. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year allowed seven hits, with seven strikeouts and no walks.

The first four batters reached base off Junis. Upton opened the scoring with his 15th home run of the year. Kinsler made it 4-0 with his ninth.

Romine's drive to right was his third home run of the year, a career high. He hit two in each of the previous three seasons.

J.D. Martinez battled through a 15-pitch at-bat against reliever Kevin McCarthy in the seventh, finally hitting an RBI single to make it 7-0.

"I was just trying to give it to him, like, 'Put it in play,'" McCarthy said. "After a couple, it was like, 'Damn.' I didn't know what else to do."

Junis allowed six runs and seven hits in six innings.

ASTROS 6, ATHLETICS 1 Carlos Correa homered twice and drove in four runs and the Houston Astros got a win over the Oakland Athletics. Correa’s two-run shot in the fourth put the Astros up 2-1. He extended the lead to 5-1 with a two-run homer to straightaway center field with no outs in the sixth inning to chase rookie Daniel Gossett (1-3). It was the fourth career multi-home run game for Correa, who has reached safely in a career-high 17 straight games, and his first this season.

INDIANS 5, RANGERS 1 Corey Kluber allowed three hits and struck out 12 in eight innings to help the Cleveland Indians beat the Texas Rangers. Kluber (7-2) tied a franchise record held by Bob Feller with four consecutive games with double-digit strikeouts. Feller struck out 10 or more batters in his last three starts in 1938 and his first start in 1939.

RED SOX 6, TWINS 3 David Price won for the second time in three starts, Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez hit solo home runs, and the Boston Red Sox rallied from a three-run deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins. Tzu-Wei Lin singled and tripled for his first big league multihit game. Jackie Bradley Jr. had three hits and an RBI. Price (3-2) threw a season-high 112 pitches over seven innings, allowing three runs and six hits with seven strikeouts and no walks. Craig Kimbrel pitched a one-hit ninth for his AL-leading 22nd save in 23 chances.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

CARDINALS 10, DIAMONDBACKS 4 Randal Grichuk hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning and drove in five runs, leading the St. Louis Cardinals over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona led 3-2 with two outs in the seventh when pinch-hitter Luke Voit doubled off Ruby De La Rosa (0-1). Matt Carpenter was intentionally walked, and Grichuk sent a 1-2 slider into the left-field seats. Tommy Pham hit a two-run single off Randall Delgado in the eighth. Grichuk followed with a two-run double and scored on Stephen Piscotty’s single.

CUBS 5, NATIONALS 4 Jon Jay hit a goahead two-run double during a three-run ninth-inning rally against Blake Treinen, lifting the Chicago Cubs over the Washington Nationals. Washington got more bad news after the game: speedy shortstop Trea Turner has a broken his right wrist after being hit by a pitch. The team did not have a timetable for his return. Tommy La Stella drove in a run with a two-out single against Treinen (0-2), and Jay followed with a hit to right-center that brought home Javier Baez and La Stella.

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