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Royals beat Tigers for another series win

Apr 10, 2011 - 10:34 PM Detroit, MI (Sports Network) - Wilson Betemit went 4-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI to power the Kansas City Royals to a 9-5 win over the Detroit Tigers in the rubber match of a three-game series at Comerica Park.

Chris Getz knocked in two runs for the Royals, who improved to 6-3 on the young season. Luke Hochevar (1-1) gave up four runs -- three earned -- on five hits and struck out six in seven innings.

"I thought he pitched very well," said Kansas City manager Ned Yost about his starting pitcher. "I was very impressed with the way he was [throwing] strikes, not walking anybody, changing speeds and keeping the ball down."

Miguel Cabrera clubbed a two-run homer for Detroit, while Jhonny Peralta and Alex Avila both added solo shots. Rick Porcello (0-2) was tagged for five runs and nine hits over five frames.

"We didn't play a very good game, but we did keep battling offensively and got ourselves in a position to get back into it," said Detroit manager Jim Leyland.

The Tigers have lost six of nine to open 2011.

The Royals pushed two runs home in the third. Getz led off with a walk and Melky Cabrera stroked a double to left field. A throwing error by Ryan Raburn allowed Getz to score and Melky Cabrera to move up to third before he came home on an Alex Gordon groundout.

Detroit got a run back in the bottom of the inning on Peralta's leadoff blast to left field, but Getz lofted a sacrifice fly in the fourth to make it 3-1.

Kansas City extended its lead to 5-1 in the fifth on an RBI triple by Jeff Francoeur, who later scored on a throwing error by Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge.

Avila went deep in the sixth -- the home run was upheld following a video review -- and Miguel Cabrera homered in the next inning, trimming the Tigers' deficit to 7-4 after the Royals had scratched out two runs in the top of the seventh on a Betemit double and an Alcides Escobar single.

Kansas City got sac flies from Kila Ka'aihue and Getz in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively, to go up 9-4. Miguel Cabrera scored on a Raburn fly ball in the bottom of the ninth, but it wasn't enough for Detroit.

Game Notes

Billy Butler extended his hitting streak against Detroit to 22 games...Peralta collected three hits...Kansas City was 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position...The Tigers committed four errors.