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Meche, Butler shine as Royals crush Tigers in opener

Jul 21, 2007 - 3:50 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Gil Meche has several reasons to smile.

Meche tossed seven strong innings and rookie Billy Butler drove in a season-high four runs as the Kansas City Royals snapped the Detroit Tigers' four-game winning streak with a 10-2 triumph on Friday.

Meche (7-6) allowed two runs and five hits with five strikeouts en route to winning his third consecutive road start and helped extend the Royals' winning streak to three games.

"I didn't warm up as much as I normally do, and it helped," Meche said. "I didn't feel like I was pushing the ball at the end because I wasn't tired. I could have gone out there for another inning.

"I don't know what it is about (Comerica Park), but I like pitching here. Maybe it is that runway pointing to home plate."

The righthander might have had another agenda in this one after Tigers manager Jim Leyland opted to keep the 32-year-old on the bench during the American League's 5-4 win in the All-Star Game on July 10 in San Francisco.

"I have no hard feelings about not playing in the All-Star Game," Meche said. "I had a blast over there. Leyland is a great man and he knows baseball. I had just pitched on (three days earlier on) Saturday, and he knew that. I was just proud to be there."

It was the first career trip to the Midsummer Classic for Meche, who inked a lucrative five-year deal with Kansas City last winter after spending his first six campaigns with Seattle.

Kansas City wasted little time getting to starter Kenny Rogers (3-2) as the 21-year-old Butler plated a run with a groundout in the first inning.

Butler struck again two frames later with a two-run single that snapped a 1-1 tie. The former first-round pick added another run-scoring base hit during a two-run seventh that gave the Royals a 6-2 advantage.

"We kept talking about the struggles in the middle of our order," Royals manager Buddy Bell said. "I think (Butler) has taken care of that. He just has a knack for hitting, and I guess that's an understatement."

In the ninth, Butler collected his fourth hit and later scored on David DeJesus' two-run single as Kansas City rallied for four runs.

"I'm just comfortable right now," said Butler, who is hitting .373 with 21 RBI since June 20. "Guys have good streaks and bad streaks, everyone does, but I'm just trying to stay consistent. I think we're proving every day that we aren't as bad as everyone thinks we are. People used to laugh about us, but we're not too bad anymore."

Rogers was tagged for six runs and a season-worst nine hits in 6 1/3 innings. It was the lefthander's fifth start of the season after beginning the year on the disabled list.

"I made good pitches with bad results," Rogers said. "I felt good but hung a couple of pitches. I'm not unhappy on what I did out there, but I didn't get as many outs as I should have."

The 42-year-old Rogers has struggled in his last two outings, surrendering 11 earned runs and 14 hits in 11 1/3 frames.

Slugger Gary Sheffield tied the game at 1-1 in the first with his 23rd homer and Magglio Ordonez delivered an RBI double in the sixth for Detroit, which committed three errors.

"Meche threw a great game," Sheffield said. "All of his pitches were working and he was throwing strikes. When you throw 95 mile-per-hour fastballs, you are going to be tough to beat."