Kris Bubic reversed a season-long trend with an outstanding start as the host Kansas City Royals earned a 5-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday night in the opening game of a three-game series.

Bubic allowed one run on six hits in six innings, walking two and striking out four as Kansas City snapped Detroit's seven-game winning streak. The Tigers have the best record (18-10) in baseball since June 20.

Bubic (3-4) also induced three ground-ball double plays in his six innings.

Greg Holland pitched a perfect ninth to earn his seventh save.

Bubic has struggled as a starter in 2021. He owns a 2.96 ERA in eight relief appearances this season, opposed to a 6.34 ERA in his eight starts before Friday's game.

Wily Peralta (3-2) took the loss. He gave up five runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings.

Jonathan Schoop's sixth-inning single extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 games.

The Tigers got on the board in the third when Willi Castro led off with his seventh home run of the season. But the Royals answered with a run in the bottom of the inning on a two-out RBI single by Whit Merrifield, scoring Hunter Dozier. It was the second earned run allowed in the past 29 1/3 innings for Peralta.

Ryan O'Hearn then put the Royals up 4-1 when he hit a three-run home run to center field, his eighth homer of the season. The Royals added a run in the fifth when Carlos Santana homered to right field with two outs. It was Santana's 16th home run.

The Tigers got two runs in the seventh when Castro scored on a wild pitch by Kyle Zimmer and a single by Schoop.

Detroit's Robbie Grossman saw his career-high, 21-game on-base streak end with an 0-for-4 night.

--Field Level Media