Detroit’s Victor Martinez hit three home runs, as the Kansas City bullpen had a rare sour night, in a 10-4 Tiger victory on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium, heard locally on KTTN AM 1600 and KTTN FM 92.3.
The excitement of a victory over the World Champions, an AL Central rival, was tempered in Detroit’s postgame locker room, with news that J.D. Martinez suffered a broken elbow in the second inning of the game, an injury expected to keep the right fielder out of action for 4 to 6 weeks.
Martinez smacked the outfield wall while tracking a fly ball in the bottom of the second inning. He left the game and an X-Ray revealed the fracture.
The early portion of the game was a battle of solo home runs, as hot temperatures saw baseballs flying out of “The K”. Martinez kept Detroit close with a pair of solo homers, combining with a solo shot by Nick Castellanos had that the Royals advantage at 4-3 going into the Tigers 7th.
James McCann, leading off the 7th against KC reliever Luke Hochevar, tied the game at 4. Miguel Cabrera gave the Tigers the lead for good moments later with a two-run shot off of the ineffective Hochevar. Three more Tiger tallies in the eighth, and Martinez’s third homer of the game, in the ninth, sizzled away the Royals hopes of a comeback.
Justin Verlander was not at his best, but the veteran improved to 7-5 with seven innings of four-run, eight-hit baseball. He is 13-5 all-time in 22 starts at Kauffman Stadium.
Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain drove in runs in the 1st inning to give the Royals an early lead, and rookie Brett Eibner, hours after his recall from Omaha and the disabled list, hit a solo homer in the 2nd for his first career round-tripper.