Royals pummel Tigers 8-1 in series opener, reclaim first place in AL Central

If every game could be a series opener for the Royals…

Eight series openers, eight victories, and none felt better to the Royals than Thursday’s 8-1 thumping of the Tigers.

It means the calendar page turns with the Royals (15-7) in first place, trading spots in the standing with a Tigers team that won its fourth straight division title last season largely by dominating the Royals.

“This has a lot to do with their confidence and belief in themselves,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “They know we’re a good team and we’re going to find ways to win baseball games. We have a lot of ways to do it.”

They were all on display Thursday.

On a night when everything seemed to work for the Royals, the most welcoming sign was the performance of Danny Duffy.

Royals starters had been scuffling lately, and Duffy owned one victory and one start that lasted beyond six innings this season.

Thursday, he threw up zeroes for seven innings, losing a shutout in the eighth long after the outcome had been decided.

Yost came for Duffy after he had given up the run, and Duffy walked down the dugout steps to a standing ovation after a seven-strikeout performance.

“Duffy was fantastic, especially against that club,” Yost said. “They have the capacity to put a bunch of runs on the board in a hurry.”

Duffy worked out of two-on trouble in the first and sixth innings, both times by striking out J.D. Martinez.

“After that first inning, I settled in,” Duffy said. “For whatever reason, I’ve had pretty lengthy first innings lately.”

A couple of sharp double plays and a running catch in the right field gap by Jarrod Dyson were the top defensive moments that shortened Tigers innings.

And on a night when every Royals player in the lineup had at least one hit, the offense struck big in two innings with mostly different sets of heroes in each.

A five-run fifth put the game away and started with Lorenzo Cain’s single up the middle. One out later, Kendrys Morales missed a home run by a foot, settling for an RBI double.

Salvador Perez followed with an RBI double of his own, and the Royals had chased Tigers starter Alfredo Simon, who entered the game with a 4-0 record.

Singles by Jarrod Dyson and Christian Colon produced another run, and when Colon stole second without a throw, Alex Gordon had two easy RBIs with his soft single to center. The lead was 8-0.

The top of the order got things going in a three-run third, and there was a new look at the top.

Gordon batted leadoff for the first time this season as Alcides Escobar rested after getting hit by a pitch a day earlier.

Escobar showed concussion-like symptoms after getting hit in the face in Cleveland and will be re-evaluated on Friday.

Gordon hasn’t hit leadoff since the last weekend of 2013, but over his career, he’s spent more time there than any other spot. It looked like he never left. His one-out single started the uprising.

Mike Moustakas followed Gordon and powered an RBI double that one hopped the right-center wall.

The Royals had their first run, and Moustakas his second hit, giving him 11 multihit games for the season.

Although his first hit didn’t involve a score, the moment had to be satisfying. As Moustakas stepped into the box, he saw a familiar sight. Three Tigers set up shop on the right side. The Moustakas shift was in full effect.

No defense has contained him in the season’s first month, and this one did not. As Simon’s fastball approach, Moustakas squared around, slid top hand up the bat handle and made contact. The bunted ball rolled toward third base, where no Tiger covered. By the time shortstop Jose Iglesias gloved it, the ball was beyond the bag and Moustakas was discussing matters with first base coach Rusty Kuntz.

Moustakas doubled over the shift the next time, and on Simon’s next pitch, Eric Hosmer crushed a 421-foot home run to dead center to complete the three-running inning, his second homer in two games.

“The thing that’s so impressive is his dead center power,” Yost said.

Hosmer’s home run in Cleveland gave the Royals a lead they immediately surrendered. Thursday, the Royals weren’t giving anything back while making a statement against the team that tormented them last season.

The Tigers won 13 of the 19 meetings between the teams — eight of 10 at Kauffman Stadium — and wound up winning the Central Division by one game over the Royals.

“We’re a different team than the last time we played them,” Hosmer said. “This (series) is a good test for our team, to see where we’re at.”

Royals 8, Tigers 1

This story was originally published April 30, 2015 at 10:48 PM with the headline "Royals pummel Tigers 8-1 in series opener, reclaim first place in AL Central."