KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Before Wednesday night's game, Ron Gardenhire had a talk with JaCoby Jones.
After hitting so well over the past three weeks, Jones was moved up nine spots in the batting order against the Royals, all the way up to leadoff.
Permanent? To be determined. An opportunity, with Niko Goodrum out? Absolutely.
Gardenhire's message was simple: Don't change a thing.
Jones listened.
Leading off the top of the eighth inning, Jones walked and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brandon Dixon to give the Tigers a 3-2 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
Jones walked, Christin Stewart doubled and Nicholas Castellanos walked, loading the bases with nobody out. After Miguel Cabrera struck out looking, Dixon hit a long fly ball to right field, easily scoring Jones from third base.
Left-hander Daniel Norris took a no-decision, allowing two runs on six hits in five innings. Norris was solid _ he struck out six batters and walked two.
After the Tigers took the lead in the eighth, Joe Jimenez pitched a scoreless eighth inning and Shane Greene pitched a scoreless ninth for his American League-leading 20th save.
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