Royals 11, Tigers 8: Omar Infante homered and had four RBIs and Billy Butler smacked a three-run double as visiting Kansas City rocked Detroit’s Justin Verlander and rolled to its eighth consecutive victory.

Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon each had three hits as the Royals racked up a season-best 17 in winning the opener of the four-game set. Five other players had two hits as Kansas City moved within a half-game of the first-place Tigers in the American League Central.

Jason Vargas (7-2) gave up two runs and seven hits in seven innings to win for the fifth time in six starts. Verlander (6-7) allowed seven runs and 12 hits in six innings while losing for the fifth time in six outings.

The Tigers had a 2-0 lead through four innings before the Royals began their assault with four fifth-inning runs on Infante’s RBI single and Butler’s bases-clearing double over the head of Detroit center fielder Austin Jackson. Infante hit a three-run homer in the sixth to make it 7-2 as Verlander continues to struggle and has a 7.83 ERA over his last seven outings.

The Royals added four more runs in the seventh, taking advantage of two Tigers’ errors and receiving run-scoring singles from Cain and Alcides Escobar. Detroit plated six ninth-inning runs on run-scoring singles by Rajai Davis and Victor Martinez and J.D. Martinez’s second career grand slam but fell to Kansas City for the first time in six meetings this season.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Tigers RF Torii Hunter departed with a hamstring injury after singling in the fourth inning. … The Royals have outscored the opposition 56-25 during their winning streak. … Detroit inscribed “TG 5.5” in the infield dirt between third base and shortstop in tribute to Hall of Famer and San Diego Padres icon Tony Gwynn, who died of cancer on Monday at the age of 54.