(AP) Jeimer Candelario hit a bases-clearing double and Gordon Beckham added a two-run homer during a seven-run third inning, and the Detroit Tigers took advantage of Kansas City’s late pitching switch to beat the Royals 12-8 on Sunday.
Harold Castro had a pair of hits during the marathon fame, when the Tigers trotted 11 batters to the plate against fill-in starter Brian Flynn. The first six reached base safely, and Brandon Dixon and Niko Goodrum also drove in runs before reliever Jorge Lopez finally ended the inning.
Flynn (2-1), who got the start when Homer Bailey was traded to Oakland before the first pitch, was yanked six batters into the third without recording an out. He allowed seven runs on eight hits.
Jordan Zimmermann wasn’t much better for Detroit. He allowed seven runs on eight hits before he was pulled after facing four batters in the fifth inning. He still hasn’t won since last Sept. 5.
Nick Ramirez (4-3) earned the win for Detroit after allowing one run over three innings.
Jorge Soler homered and had three RBIs for the Royals.
The Tigers jumped ahead on Christian Stewart’s RBI single in the first, but it was their big third inning that cracked the game open. Castro and Stewart joined Nick Castellanos on base before Dixon was hit by a pitch to plate a run. Candelario followed with his three-run double.
Goodrum also drove in a run before Beckham’s two-out homer gave the Tigers an 8-3 lead.
The seven-run frame was the Tigers’ highest-scoring inning of the season by a full two runs, and the six hits matched a season-high for an inning set July 4 against the White Sox.
The teams swapped runs in the fourth, and Kansas City plated three in the fifth and another in the sixth to claw within 10-8. But the Royals left a pair aboard to end the inning, and the Tigers answered with two more in the seventh to cap their highest-scoring game this season.
The teams combined for 29 hits while stranding 12 runners on base.
