KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ It doesn't erase the awfulness of much of the first 10 games of the Tigers' yearly May swoon on the road, but it did put a good taste in their mouths as they fly home for a much-needed off-day.
With the offense once again under question, the Tigers bats stepped up in a big way on Wednesday night, tattooing right-hander Ian Kennedy and beating the Royals, 6-5.
The Tigers beat the Royals for the series and finished a 10-day, 11-game, three-city road trip at 4-7. They talked all along about simply surviving the trip; though their record says otherwise, it certainly wasn't the worst possible outcome.
There remains cause for concern, as left-hander Matt Boyd struggled once again, but the Tigers bailed him out with a four-run third inning.
In the third, after Kennedy walked the bases loaded with two outs, J.D. Martinez and Justin Upton delivered back-to-back two-run doubles to put them ahead for good. Upton left the game shortly thereafter with a mild right quad strain.
Boyd couldn't make it out of the fourth inning, throwing 3 2/3 innings, allowing four earned runs on seven hits with one strikeout and one walk. He allowed three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
But the Tigers' bullpen did a bang-up job, pitching solid relief. It began with Warwick Saupold, who allowed one hit over three innings. At one point, Saupold recorded eight consecutive ground ball outs.
Shane Greene came in with a runner on base in the seventh inning before striking out Lorenzo Cain swinging.
Alex Wilson recorded the first two outs of the eighth inning before back-to-back singles and a wild pitch pulled the Royals within a run.
Justin Wilson picked up his fifth save in six tries in the ninth inning.
The Tigers hit two home runs in the contest: Victor Martinez opened their end of the scoring with a solo shot to right field and Alex Avila continued his hot start to the season with a solo shot to left-center field in the fourth inning.
With the win, the Tigers are 25-28.
