DETROIT (AP)– Ian Kinsler had the rare chance to celebrate scoring a game-winning run twice in 45 minutes.
Kinsler homered to lead off the 11th inning and give the Detroit Tigers a 6-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night.
“The nice thing about hitting one out is that the game is guaranteed to be over,” he said. “There was no reviewing that one.”
The celebration at home was Kinsler’s second in three innings, but this one counted.
Kinsler was initially called safe at home on a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, setting off a mob scene at the plate. However, a replay review showed Royals catcher Salvador Perez caught Jarrod Dyson’s off-line throw and caught the tip of Kinsler’s shoe with a diving tag to end the inning.
“I thought I beat it, but when I came in from the inning, they showed the web of his glove move,” he said. “What are you going to do? You get back on the field and try to get right back to work.”
Kinsler’s homer game-ending homer against Miguel Almonte (0-1) was his second walkoff homer against Kansas City this season. He also hit one off Ryan Madson on Aug. 6.
It was only the second homer Almonte had allowed in his short career, and they have both been to Kinsler. The first came on Sept. 1 in Almonte’s first major league inning.
Almonte pitched the 10th inning, only allowing a walk, so Royals manager Ned Yost chose to stick with him to start the 11th, rather than use Danny Duffy in relief for the first time this season or go with former Tiger Joba Chamberlain.
“We were already down our top four guys after going 13 last night, so when we went extra innings again tonight, we were pretty short,” Yost said. “We like Almonte’s stuff and he had been good in the 10th, so we stayed with him. He just threw a bad curveball to a good hitter.”
Tom Gorzelanny (2-0) got the win with two innings of scoreless relief.
Neither starter was involved in the decision. Tigers rookie Matt Boyd ended a lengthy slump, allowing two runs and three hits and a walk in six innings. Boyd, who was acquired from Toronto in the David Price trade, struck out six — one short of his career best.
“I think 90 percent of my fastballs tonight were two seamers,” he said. “I hadn’t done that in a start yet, but I was really locating it, so I was getting ahead in the count, not pitching with a bunch of 2-0 counts like I’ve been doing.”
Edinson Volquez allowed three runs and seven hits and four walks in six innings for the Royals.
The Royals took a 1-0 lead in the second on Kendrys Morales’ 18th homer, but Miguel Cabrera answered with a two-run single in the third. Cabrera now has four RBI in the last two games after a 12-game slump where he only had one.
Mike Moustakas tied the game on the second pitch of the fifth, hitting a fastball an estimated 425 feet over the out-of-town scoreboard in right-center field. Detroit, though, regained the lead in the bottom of the inning when Victor Martinez’s fly out to the 420-foot sign in center field easily scored Cabrera.
Eric Hosmer led off the seventh with a double off Blaine Hardy, and took third as Kinsler robbed Morales of a hit with a diving stop-and-throw. Moustakas couldn’t drive home the run, grounding out, and Tigers manager Brad Ausmus brought in Al Alburquerque to face Jonny Gomes. Alburquerque got ahead 0-2, but then threw a wild pitch, allowing Hosmer to score the tying run.
Alburquerque then walked Gomes, balked pinch-runner Dyson to second, intentionally walked Perez, and allowed an RBI single to Christian Colon before being pulled. Ian Krol walked Alex Gordon to load the bases, but retired Ben Zobrist to end the inning.
Victor Martinez ripped a two-run homer off Chris Young in the bottom of the inning, putting the Tigers up 5-4, but Hosmer tied the game with a home run off Bruce Rondon in the top of the eighth. It was Hosmer’s first homer since Aug. 14.
