Tigers 6 - 3 Royals
Final
  for this game

Tigers go for fifth consecutive win

May 4, 2007 - 3:19 PM Detroit (16-11) at Kansas City (10-19) 8:10 pm EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers are beginning to play like the team that went to the World Series last fall.

That's bad news for the Kansas City Royals, who host the Tigers in the first of a three-game series on Friday.

The Tigers have won four in a row and seven of their last 10, moving into second place in the American League Central Division behind the Cleveland Indians in the process.

Justin Verlander (1-1, 2.79 ERA) gets the start for Detroit and is coming off his worst start of the season. The righthander allowed five runs - three earned - and eight hits in three innings during an 11-3 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

Verlander's only win this season came against the Royals on April 16, when he held them to three runs over six innings in a 12-5 victory.

The Royals will counter with Brian Bannister (0-1, 4.91), who is coming off an solid start on Sunday against the Seattle Mariners. In what was his second start of the season, he allowed four runs - three earned - and four hits in 6 2/3 innings.

After allowing an RBI double to Jamie Burke in the second inning, the 26-year-old righthander retired 14 consecutive batters. He was replaced in the seventh after running into trouble.

The Royals have won two consecutive games and will be after their first three-game winning streak since they swept the Tigers in a three-game series to end last season. That sweep prevented the Tigers from winning the AL Central, which went to the Twins.

Ross Gload, who had his first career four-hit game on Thursday, has a seven-game hitting streak for the Royals, raising his average from .268 to .307 during that span.

Detroit's Gary Sheffield is beginning to heat up after a disappointing first month with his new team. The slugger was hitting .160 with one home run as of April 27, but is 9-for-18 in his last five games with two home runs and four RBI.

The Tigers have won four of six meetings against the Royals this season.








  • AL
    FINAL
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
    - - - - - - - - - - - -
    DETROIT 2 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 6 11 0
    KANSAS CITY 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 9 1 (FINAL)

    BATTERIES: DET - JUSTIN VERLANDER, BOBBY SEAY (8TH), JASON GRILLI (8TH),
    FERNANDO RODNEY (8TH), TODD JONES (9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ
    KAN - BRIAN BANNISTER, TODD WELLEMEYER (5TH

    May 4 11:27 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    SINGLE BY BILLY BUTLER SCORED MIKE SWEENEY.
    SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, B BUTLER ON FIRST, 2 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: DETROIT 6
    KANSAS CITY 3 BOTTOM, 8TH
    DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: A GORDON (.174, 1-FOR-3)

    Tigers vs. RoyalsMay 4 11:10 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    DOUBLE BY MIKE SWEENEY SCORED DAVID DEJESUS AND MARK
    GRUDZIELANEK.
    SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, M SWEENEY ON SECOND, 1 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: DETROIT 6
    KANSAS CITY 2 BOTTOM, 8TH
    DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: S COSTA (.000, 0 HR, 0 RBI)

    Tigers vs. RoyalsMay 4 11:03 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    BASES LOADED WALK TO GARY SHEFFIELD SCORED BRANDON INGE.
    SITUATION: 4 RUNS IN, G SHEFFIELD ON FIRST, P POLANCO ON SECOND, C
    GRANDERSON ON THIRD, 2 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: DETROIT 6
    KANSAS CITY 0 TOP, 5TH
    DUE UP FOR DETROIT: M ORDONEZ (.340, 1-FOR-2, BB)

    Tigers vs. RoyalsMay 4 9:59 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    BASES LOADED WALK TO PLACIDO POLANCO SCORED CRAIG MONROE.
    SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, P POLANCO ON FIRST, C GRANDERSON ON SECOND,
    B INGE ON THIRD, 2 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: DETROIT 5
    KANSAS CITY 0 TOP, 5TH
    DUE UP FOR DETROIT: G SHEFFIELD (.219, 0-FOR-3)

    Tigers vs. RoyalsMay 4 9:53 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    SINGLE BY BRANDON INGE SCORED SEAN CASEY.
    SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, B INGE ON FIRST, C MONROE ON THIRD, 2 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: DETROIT 4
    KANSAS CITY 0 TOP, 5TH
    DUE UP FOR DETROIT: C GRANDERSON (.267, 2-FOR-3)

    Tigers vs. RoyalsMay 4 9:48 PM


  • AL
    AT KANSAS CITY - SCORING UPDATE
    DOUBLE BY SEAN CASEY SCORED CARLOS GUILLEN.
    SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, S CASEY ON SECOND, 2 OUT
    CURRENT SCORE: DETROIT 3
    KANSAS CITY 0 TOP, 5TH
    DUE UP FOR DETROIT: C MONROE (.196, 0-FOR-2)

    Tigers vs. RoyalsMay 4 9:39 PM


  • AL
    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
    - - - - - - - - - - - -
    DETROIT 2 2 1 0
    KANSAS CITY 0 0 1 (BOT 1)

    CURRENT PITCHERS: DET - JUSTIN VERLANDER
    KAN - BRIAN BANNISTER

    DUE UP FOR KANSAS CITY: D DEJESUS (.322, 4 HR, 9 RBI)
    M GRUDZIELANEK (.280, 1 HR, 12 RBI)
    M TEAHEN

    Tigers vs. RoyalsMay 4 8:25 PM

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