The crowd cheered Michael Fulmer and booed the decision to pull him.
That was the only real drama at the end — after the talented right-hander had shut down Kansas City for almost the entire game.
Fulmer came within one out of a shutout, and the Tigers hit three home runs in a 7-3 victory over the Royals on Thursday. A late Kansas City rally cost Fulmer a complete game after he’d faced only one batter above the minimum through eight innings.
Fulmer (7-6) appeared headed for his second big league shutout. He was at only 88 pitches after Alex Gordon grounded out for the second out of the ninth, but then Ramon Torres and Jorge Bonifacio singled, and Drew Butera drove them in with a double.
Justin Upton dropped Eric Hosmer’s soft liner to left field for an error, allowing another run to come in. By that point, Fulmer was up to 104 pitches, and the crowd booed when manager Brad Ausmus came out and removed him.
Justin Wilson struck out Brandon Moss to end it.
Upton, Ian Kinsler and Andrew Romine went deep for the Tigers. Jakob Junis (2-2) allowed a three-run homer to Upton in the first, as well as a solo shot by Kinsler in the third and a two-run drive by Romine in the fourth.
Fulmer retired his first nine hitters. The reigning AL Rookie of the Year allowed seven hits, with seven strikeouts and no walks.
The first four batters reached base off Junis. Upton opened the scoring with his 15th home run of the year. Kinsler made it 4-0 with his ninth.
Romine’s drive to right was his third home run of the year, a career high. He hit two in each of the previous three seasons.
J.D. Martinez battled through a 15-pitch at-bat against reliever Kevin McCarthy in the seventh, finally hitting an RBI single to make it 7-0.
Junis allowed six runs and seven hits in six innings.
