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Royals bash Tigers

Jul 10, 2011 - 3:31 AM Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Alex Gordon had a three-run homer while Alcides Escobar scored three times and also drove in three runs as the Kansas City Royals outslugged the Detroit Tigers for a 13-6 win.

Melky Cabrera and Billy Butler each knocked in a pair of runs for the Royals, who had lost the first two games of the four-game series by two runs each.

Greg Holland (3-1) got the win, tossing 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for KC. He allowed just two hits and struck out two while starter Luke Hochevar was roughed up for six runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings.

"Something's happening. My focus, my approach and my execution, I think, really doesn't waver," Hochevar said of his rough outing. "So something's happening, whether it's my mixture, falling into patterns or whatever it is, there's something there and I need to figure it out."

Brennan Boesch had a pair of RBI for Detroit, which had a three-game win streak snapped.

Detroit pitching was far from impressive after giving up 13 runs -- only five earned -- on 12 hits and five walks. Starter Charlie Furbush (1-3) was charged with the loss in his second start of the season, lasting just 2 2/3 innings. He allowed nine runs -- four earned -- on nine hits.

"It's a tough one," Furbush said. "You've just got to tip your cap. They got some hits that found holes and playing some good baseball. You can't do much about it."

The offensive outburst started right from the beginning with 15 runs scored in the first 3 1/2 innings.

Eric Hosmer grounded into a force out with the bases loaded to score Cabrera for the first run of the game in the opening frame.

During the second inning, Escobar's groundout scored Wilson Betemit. Later in the inning, the Royals scored a pair of runs off of Butler's two-out single for a 4-0 lead.

The Tigers halved the deficit during the next inning when Ryan Raburn led off with a double and scored on Boesch's single. Miguel Cabrera followed that up with an RBI base knock.

But the Royals regained a comfortable lead during the bottom half after Chris Getz and Melky Cabrera had back-to-back RBI singles to set up Gordon's three- run bomb to center that pushed the lead to 9-2.

Detroit did go away, though, as it tallied four runs during the fourth to cut it to a three-run game.

With the bases loaded, Andy Dirks lined out to short for the second out of the game. On the play, though, Don Kelly scored on Escobar's throwing error on the double-play attempt. That kept the inning going as Ramon Santiago and Boesch each had RBI singles. Miguel Cabrera walked to fill the bases once again and set up Victor Martinez's walk that forced Santiago home.

Runs kept pouring in for the Royals while Detroit stopped altogether. Melky Cabrera slapped run-scoring grounder up the middle in the fifth, and Matt Treanor launched a sac fly in the sixth. During the same inning, Escobar drilled a two-run triple to push the lead to 13-6.

Game Notes

Detroit fell to 5-3 against the Royals this season...KC's top four hitters combined for nine hits and eight RBI...The Royals were 8-for-17 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base...Detroit left eight men on base and was 5-for-15 with runners in scoring position.