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Tigers batter Shields, trounce Royals

May 3, 2014 - 5:19 AM Kansas City, MO (SportsNetwork.com) - Victor Martinez went 3-for-5 with two RBI to lead an offensive barrage that fueled the Detroit Tigers' 8-2 rout of the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium.

The Tigers pounded out 14 hits and shelled Royals ace James Shields for eight runs in 6 1/3 innings to claim the opener of this three-game set and win for the third straight time overall. Every Detroit starter collected at least one hit, with J.D. Martinez finishing 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and Alex Avila contributing a two-run homer.

Detroit also received seven solid innings from Rick Porcello (4-1), with the righty yielding just four hits and two runs while fanning six without a walk.

Shields (3-3), who entered the contest with a 2.03 ERA, was tagged for 12 hits and seven earned runs to have a three-start win streak halted.

Billy Butler had a solo homer and Omar Infante ended 2-for-4 with a run scored in the loss.

Shields worked his away out of bases-loaded jam in the second inning, but was hit hard in each of the next two frames as the Tigers erased an early 1-0 deficit.

A Torii Hunter single was followed by back-to-back doubles from Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez that put Detroit ahead in the third, and Avila made it a 4-1 lead an inning later with a towering homer to right-center that came after J.D. Martinez reached on a leadoff double.

The Tigers weren't finished in the fourth, as Andrew Romine and Ian Kinsler delivered consecutive singles before a double-play grounder from Hunter brought in another run.

"I wasn't locating my pitches, getting behind in the count today," said Shields. "I didn't do my job out there, bottom-line."

Porcello got off to a bit of a rocky beginning, as Infante tripled to right in the opening inning and crossed the plate on an Eric Hosmer sac fly to give Kansas City a quick 1-0 edge.

The Detroit starter later served up Butler's line-drive homer to left to begin the bottom of the fourth that brought the Royals within 5-2, then proceeded to set down the next 12 hitters to complete his stint.

"I was throwing first-pitch strikes," said Porcello. "I think that was the biggest key tonight, it was establishing the fastball early and getting ahead of guys."

Shields settled down to throw a perfect fifth and sixth, but gave up Victor Martinez's single that plated Kinsler in the seventh and left after loading the bases. A J.D. Martinez double off Kelvin Herrera knocked in two more runners to extend the margin to 8-2.

Game Notes

Porcello improved to 14-6 in 26 career starts in May ... Hunter went 2-for-5 with two runs scored to lengthen his hitting streak to nine games, while Cabrera is on an eight-game tear ... Infante has hit safely in all 11 of the Royals' home games this season ... Danny Duffy will start Saturday's meeting for Kansas City in place of Bruce Chen, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list before the game with a bulging disc in his lower back ... The Royals fell to 0-14 when scoring less then four runs.