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Castellanos lifts Tigers to 12-4 win over Royals

Posted at 5:01 PM, Apr 21, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-21 17:01:03-04

(AP) — Nicholas Castellanos homered and drove in three runs, and the Detroit Tigers routed the Kansas City Royals 12-4 on Saturday.

The Tigers have won five of six. Detroit broke a 3-all tie with three runs in the fifth on a day when both starting pitchers were in almost constant trouble.

Mike Fiers (2-1) allowed two earned runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings for the Tigers, and Royals starter Danny Duffy (0-3) yielded six runs and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Warwick Saupold pitched 2 1/3 perfect innings for his first career save.

Abraham Almonte had three hits for Kansas City, which has lost 10 of 11. The Royals snapped a nine-game losing streak Friday night when they rallied in the ninth inning to salvage a split of a day-night doubleheader.

JaCoby Jones, whose home run won the first game of that doubleheader, went deep again for the Tigers on Saturday.

Castellanos finished a triple shy of the cycle. He opened the scoring with an RBI single in the first, and his two-run homer made it 3-1 in the third. The Tigers gave up two runs in the fourth, thanks in part to an error by catcher James McCann that loaded the bases with nobody out, but Detroit took the lead back for good in the fifth.

Dixon Machado hit an RBI single with two outs to make it 4-3, chasing Duffy. Reliever Tim Hill allowed a bunt single to Leonys Martin that loaded the bases, then the left-hander walked Jeimer Candelario and Miguel Cabrera to force in two more runs.

Jones hit a solo shot in the sixth to give the Tigers a 7-4 lead, and Cabrera’s two-run single made it 9-4 in the seventh.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: OF Alex Gordon (left hip tear) played in the first game of his rehab assignment Friday, going 0 for 4 with a run for Triple-A Omaha. Salvador Perez (left knee sprain) went 1 for 4 in that game as a DH, and he was expected to catch Saturday night for Omaha.

UP NEXT

Detroit LHP Francisco Liriano (2-1) takes on Kansas City LHP Eric Skoglund (0-2) in Sunday’s series finale.

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