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Rodriguez's six-RBI night helps Tigers down Royals

Apr 17, 2007 - 4:39 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers made sure all of Justin Verlander's stellar outings would not go to waste.

Ivan Rodriguez hit a grand slam and Verlander picked up his first win as the Tigers cruised to a 12-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals in the first game of a three-game set.

The reigning American League Rookie of the Year, Verlander (1-0) had yet to record a win despite allowing just one unearned run through two starts. He yielded his first three earned runs and five hits with no walks and six strikeouts over six innings.

"Those first couple outings, I really wasn't that far off," Verlander said. "A bunch of those walks could've gone either way. Tonight was pretty similar. A couple of those questionable calls went my way. I felt like my breaking ball was a little better tonight for strikes."

Rodriguez's homer to deep center accounted for all four first-inning runs for the Tigers. It was his first grand slam since 2002 and marked the third consecutive game the Royals allowed one.

"(Zack) Greinke threw me some good pitches," Rodriguez said. "I had to foul off a couple of them just to stay alive but he finally got one over the plate and I was able to hit it a long way."

"He always hits me good," Royals starter Greinke said. "I gave him four good breaking balls and he hit the fifth. At first, I thought it was an out. Then, I remembered the wind and thought it might be a double. Then, the wind carried it all the way."

Following an fielding error by Tony Pena Jr. with Detroit leading, 5-2, Rodriguez lined a two-run double to left to give the Tigers a 7-2 advantage in the second. His six RBI were the most since he plated nine on April 13, 1999, against Seattle and one more than he had recorded in his first 11 games this season.

"I got two pitches to hit tonight and I was able to get both of them, one off the end of the bat for a double and the other one for the home run," Rodriguez said.

"He's the best catcher I have ever seen," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "He is the best combination of a offensive and defensive player that there is. He's just a great player."

Carlos Guillen homered for the first time this season and finished with four RBI.

Grienke (1-2) was abysmal in his third start of the season, throwing only 29 of his 49 pitches for strikes in just two-thirds of an inning. He allowed four runs and three hits with three walks and a strikeout.

"I was shocked to see him in that position," Bell said. "He had good stuff but got behind the hitters and was out of the strike zone. There was nothing physically wrong with him. It was just one of those nights. You have to give credit to the Tigers' hitters."

"They wouldn't let me put them away," Greinke said. "It puts a lot of stress on your arm and it make it tough to make good pitches. It's something you should be able to overcome, I just couldn't do it."

Ryan Shealy hit a two-run homer and Emil Brown scored twice and had two hits for Kansas City, which dropped their season-high fifth straight game.