DETROIT (AP) — Salvador Perez homered to cap a cycle by Kansas City’s first four batters of the game, and the Royals went deep three more times to beat Detroit 12-9 Sunday and drop the Tigers in the AL wild-card race.
The defending World Series champions avoided elimination from this year’s postseason race by chasing Detroit starter Matt Boyd (6-5) before he retired a hitter. Kansas City started the game with a single, a triple and a double before Perez’s two-run homer made it 4-0.
The Royals led 7-0 before Victor Martinez hit a grand slam off Edison Volquez in the third inning.
Everyone in Kansas City’s lineup had at least one hit with Whit Merrifield, Kendrys Morales, Paulo Orlando and Alex Gordon all getting three.
Cheslor Cuthbert hit a two-run homer, Raul Mondesi a solo shot and Alex Gordon a two-run blast.
The Tigers fell 1½ games behind Baltimore for the second wild-card spot. The loss cut Cleveland’s magic number to clinch the AL Central to one — the Indians start a four-game series in Detroit on Monday night.