DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera hit his 507th home run, Detroit got nine innings from its bullpen and the Tigers beat the Kansas City Royals 2-1 on Wednesday night for their fifth straight victory.
MJ Melendez led off the game with a home run for Kansas City, and Cabrera hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the inning. He has 1,845 RBIs, moving him past Carl Yastrzemski for 12th place on the career list.
Scheduled Tigers starter Matt Manning was scratched just before game time because of arm fatigue. Will Vest pitched the first inning, allowing Melendez's homer, and the next six relievers combined for eight shutout innings. Gregory Soto pitched the ninth for his 29th save.
The Tigers need one win in their last eight games to avoid 100 losses.
Kansas City had 10 hits and six walks, but Kyle Isbel was thrown out stealing twice and the Royals left 13 batters on base.
Royals starter Daniel Lynch (4-12) allowed two runs on five hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out four.
The Tigers loaded the bases with one out in the third, but Cabrera bounced into a 6-4-3 double play.
Kansas City loaded the bases in the sixth and seventh innings, but Andrew Chafin (3-3) came out of the bullpen to retire MJ Melendez in the sixth, then got out of his own jam in the seventh by striking out Hunter Dozier and getting Drew Waters to ground out.
STATISTICAL ANOMALY
Because Manning was listed as the starting pitcher on A.J. Hinch's lineup card, he will be listed in the box score and credited with an appearance. However, because he didn't pitch to the first batter of the game, Vest gets credit for the first start of his 88-game major-league career.
UP NEXT
The teams finish their season series Thursday. Eduardo Rodriguez (4-5, 4.37) is scheduled to start for the Tigers against Jonathan Heasley (4-8, 4.87).
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