DETROIT — Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas homered as part of a seven-run second inning, and the Kansas City Royals took over first place in the AL Central on Tuesday night with their ninth straight victory, 11-4 over the Detroit Tigers.
Gordon and Moustakas hit two-run shots off Max Scherzer, and Kansas City has won the first two games of this four-game series emphatically. The Royals, who trailed the Tigers by seven games after a May 20 loss, now lead Detroit by a half-game atop the division.
Scherzer (8-3) yielded a career high-tying 10 runs in four-plus innings. The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner allowed the first eight batters of the second inning to reach base, with Kansas City scoring six runs before making an out.
Yordano Ventura (5-5) allowed three runs and eight hits in seven innings.
Ian Kinsler hit a solo homer for Detroit.
Kansas City is in first place this late in the season for the first time since 2003, according to STATS. The Royals were leading the division in late August that year, only to finish third at 83-79. They have not made the postseason since winning the World Series in 1985.
After winning 86 games in 2013, Kansas City is hoping to unseat the Tigers, who have won the last three division titles. Detroit looked headed for a fourth straight year at the top after a 27-12 start, but now the Tigers are facing a surprising number of questions about their starting rotation, which was expected to be among the best in baseball.
Justin Verlander has slumped badly over the last month — he took the loss in Kansas City’s 11-8 victory in the series opener Monday. Scherzer threw his first career shutout last week, but the Royals tagged him for 10 hits in his next start Tuesday.
Gordon opened the scoring with his two-run drive to right field, and Moustakas’ homer made it 4-0. Omar Infante added a two-run single before Eric Hosmer finally made the first out of the second inning on a tapper back to the pitcher. Some fans cheered sarcastically, even though another run came home on the play to make it 7-0.
Verlander and Scherzer combined to allow 17 runs in the first two games of this series. That’s the most ever by two teammates with Cy Young Awards in back-to-back team games, according to STATS.
Ventura allowed two runs in the second, but that was the first of three consecutive innings in which Detroit hit into a double play. With the Royals ahead 10-2 in the fifth, Ventura walked Miguel Cabrera with the bases loaded, but the hard-throwing rookie caught a break when a pitch to Victor Martinez sailed past catcher Salvador Perez.
The ball bounced hard off the backstop, right back to Perez, and Detroit’s Eugenio Suarez was caught between third base and home. Perez threw to third to catch Suarez retreating and end the inning.