KANSAS CITY— After scoring 12 runs the previous night, the Royals came back to batter the Tigers’ pitching staff again on Thursday in a marathon 15-7 win at Kauffman Stadium.

Kendrys Morales had four hits and four RBIs, Lorenzo Cain homered and had three RBIs, Paulo Orlando cracked a two-run homer, and Ben Zobrist had four hits for the Royals, who overcame a 3-0 deficit, and then gave up a 6-3 lead before a six-run seventh put the game out of reach.

With the win, the Royals reduced their magic number to 18 in the American League Central.

“It felt like a fist fight out there tonight,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “It just was drawn out. Seventy pitches in the first inning. It was just a long, long night.

“It takes a toll on everybody, I think. Luckily, we didn’t take BP tonight so we had a little extra stored up energy to get through it.”

Anthony Gose led off the game with a homer for the Tigers, while Nick Castellanos had three hits and three RBIs.

“When you tie the game back up, you feel good about it,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “But when you end up giving 15 runs to the Royals, it’s tough to beat anyone.”

Both starting pitchers were dreadful. Royals starter Edinson Volquez had a streak of nine straight starts of going six or more innings snapped. He lasted just three innings, giving up six runs. Matt Boyd of the Tigers lasted just one-plus innings and gave up seven hits and six runs.

“Just one of those nights,” Volquez said, shaking his head.