Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Detroit 4, Kansas City 2
When: 7:05 PM ET, Friday, July 6, 2012
Where: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
Temperature: 94°
Umpires: Home - Dan Iassogna, 1B - CB Bucknor, 2B - Bill Miller, 3B - Victor Carapazza
Attendance: 39144

Tigers 4, Royals 2: Delmon Young hit a tiebreaking two-run homer and host Detroit won its third straight game to reach the .500 mark for the first time since May 15.

Quintin Berry had a two-run triple and rookie lefthander Drew Smyly struck out a season-high 10 in six innings as the Tigers improved to 5-1 against Kansas City this season.

Prince Fielder began the Detroit sixth with a single to center before Young belted a 3-1 pitch from Jonathan Sanchez (1-5) into the left-field seats to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead.

Smyly (4-3) gave up two runs and six hits and didn’t walk anyone. Four Detroit relievers blanked Kansas City on one hit over the final three innings with Jose Valverde working a perfect ninth for his 16th save in 19 opportunities.

Berry’s triple gave Detroit a 2-0 lead in the third. Kansas City tied the contest in the fifth when Brayan Pena smacked a run-scoring double and scored on a single to center by Jason Bourgeois.

Sanchez allowed four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 and failed to win for the 10th consecutive start.

Detroit (42-42) was 18-18 when it last was at .500 seven-plus weeks ago.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Tigers outfielder Austin Jackson went 1-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to a career-best 13 games. … Kansas City SS Alcides Escobar struck out three times in four trips. … Young has three homers in the last eight games after hitting just five over Detroit’s first 68 contests. … Royals All-Star Billy Butler had two hits and is 5-for-6 against Smyly.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Kansas City   Detroit
Jonathan Sanchez Player Drew Smyly
Loss W/L Win
5.2 IP 6.0
2 Strikeouts 10
6 Hits 6
6.35 ERA 3.00
Hitting
Kansas City   Detroit
Billy Butler Player Miguel Cabrera
2 Hits 2
0 RBI 0
0 HR 0
2 TB 2
.500 Avg .500
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Kansas City 7 0 10 .206 8 11 2 0 1 0
Detroit 9 1 15 .273 15 8 4 4 0 0