Royals turn Detroit error into 3-2 victory

The winning run came courtesy of a gift Tuesday night, and so what? The Royals will take it and the 3-2 victory it produced over the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium.

An errant — and ill-conceived — flip by Tigers shortstop Edgar Renteria allowed the winning run to score with two outs in the eighth inning.

“Oh, it’s nice,” Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said. “You know, it was a heads-up play (to score the run). Good job right there. When you play the game hard, good things happen. Well, good things finally happened.”

There was lots more, of course.

The Royals got solid pitching from Zack Greinke and the back of their bullpen with closer Joakim Soria providing the clinching blow. Soria even threw in a marvelously athletic defensive play.

And José Guillen continues to show signs of becoming the mid-lineup force the Royals envisioned last winter when they plucked him from the free-agent market for $36 million over three years.

But the game turned on Renteria’s mistake.

“It’s a tough, tough play,” he said. “But this situation, you have to take the best chance you have. I thought that was my best chance, so that’s why I threw the ball.”

OK, let’s reset.

Guillen started things with a two-out double against reliever Francisco Cruceta. Esteban German replaced Guillen as a pinch runner before Cruceta walked Billy Butler on four pitches.

Ross Gload replaced Butler as a pinch runner.

Mark Teahen then rolled a grounder up the middle that Renteria stopped from reaching the outfield. But instead of being content with that, Renteria flipped the ball toward second baseman Placido Polanco in an effort to get Gload on a force.

“If they make a great play, they get me there at second,” Gload said. “That’s the way you play. It’s an aggressive game. You play for the out there.”

The flip went awry, and German raced home with the go-ahead run.

“When I saw (Renteria) dive,” German said, “I knew right away I was going. That’s a tough play to throw me out (at home). I wasn’t going to stop.”

From there, the Royals turned to Soria, who recorded his ninth save in nine opportunities and extended his 0.00 ERA through 15 1/3 innings over 16 appearances. Leo Nuñez, 3-0, got the victory after bailing out Ramon Ramirez for the final two outs with two on in the eighth inning.

“The most impressive thing for me is two things,” manager Trey Hillman said. “We got behind and didn’t panic. We came back and got some key hits from Guillen.”

The Tigers built a 2-0 lead against Greinke on Carlos Guillen’s bloop RBI double in the first and Matt Joyce’s homer in the second. Greinke told himself, “Keep it right there for six or seven and we’re going to win the game.”

That’s how it happened.

José Guillen’s two-out, two-run double tied the game in the third against Tigers starter Nate Robertson who, like Greinke, settled for a no-decision. Guillen went two for four and has raised his average from .165 to .216 by going 10 for 18 in the last five games.

“Nobody wants (their average) to be down there like that,” Grudzielanek said, “especially a good hitter. And Guillen is a great hitter. He’s had success in the league for a lot of years. He’s not going to be there (for long).”

The Royals improved to 17-21 and pulled to within three games of first-place Minnesota in the American League Central.

Both teams could point to loads of missed opportunities. The Royals mustered 12 hits, including three from Grudzielanek, but were just two for 10 with runners in scoring position.

The Tigers were one for seven with runners in scoring position and had Greinke on the ropes in the sixth by loading the bases with two singles and a walk. Ironically, Grudzielanek chose not to make a throw after keeping Renteria’s two-out single from reaching the outfield.

“I just ate it,” Grudzielanek said. “I didn’t want to throw it anywhere. I didn’t force anything. Greinke is throwing well. Give him the ball, and he’ll get the third out.”

Greinke escaped the bases-loaded jam by overpowering Pudge Rodriguez with three straight 95-mph fastballs for a strikeout.

“Pudge has always hit me well,” Greinke said, “but I made three really good pitches. I knew that might decide the game. I threw all three as hard as I could and, luckily, they all went where they needed to be.

“A lot of times, it doesn’t go that way.”

To reach Bob Dutton, send email to bdutton@kcstar.com.