KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Tigers left fielder Jacoby Jones hopped, held onto the edge of the bullpen wall in left field and stared.
Suspended a few feet above the warning track, it was all he could do as Royals outfielder Abraham Almonte's sixth-inning solo home run ball sliced through the air and dumped into the visiting bullpen at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Jones hovered a few seconds. When he returned to the ground, the Royals had scored for the first time in the game.
In the end, the run mattered little. The Tigers had taken an early lead off Royals starting pitcher Jason Hammel, and the Royals' offense never dug itself out of the hole. The Royals lost, 3-2.
The Royals had few chances to make up for the three runs Hammel allowed in the first inning. Tigers starter Jordan Zimmermann, who entered with a career 1.67 ERA in six outings against the Royals, carried a no-hitter into the fourth inning.
When he faced trouble in the fifth inning _ Tigers first baseman John Hicks dropped what should have been the third out, allowing allow Royals outfielder Jorge Soler to reach on an error and load the bases _ Zimmermann struck out Mike Moustakas on four pitches.
Zimmermann worked around three walks and allowed a pair of hits in five innings.
Despite scoring one run in the ninth inning on an error by Tigers center fielder Leonys Martin, the Royals dropped to 10-23. On Sunday, they'll return to Kauffman Stadium in search of their first series victory of the season.
