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Eric Hosmer And Jeff Francoeur Go Deep In Kansas City Royals 11-8 Victory Over The Detroit Tigers

Kansas City pulled closer to fourth place on Thursday afternoon with an 11-8 victory over the division leading Detroit Tigers. The Royals totaled 17 hits, with Jeff Francouer, Eric Hosmer, and Johnny Giavotella each having three hits individually.

By Matthew Hays
Getty Images

If you are a fan of pitching duels, Thursday afternoon in Detroit certainly wasn't the game for you as the Royals slugged their way to an 11-8 victory over the division leading Detroit Tigers.

Leading the way for the Kansas City efforts was Jeff Francoeur who was 3-for-5 at the plate with three RBI, including his 16th home run of the season. The two-run home run in the second inning came against Tigers rookie and Missouri native Jacob Turner. In total, the Royals would garner 17 hits on the day, seven of those hits (and six runs) came against Turner who lasted just 4.1 innings in his second career outing.

Also homering for the Royals was rookie Eric Hosmer, hitting his 15th home run of the year, a solo blast in the eighth inning against Detroit reliever David Pauley. Hosmer had a perfect day in the batters box going 3-for-3 with an RBI and two walks. Johnny Giavotella also contributed three hits to the winning effort.

Continuing the rookie theme, Danny Duffy started on the mound for Kansas City and went five innings allowing five runs on six hits. After having his ERA hover around five at the end of July, Duffy's ERA now sits at 5.3 after having faced staunch competition over the past month, including the Tigers twice.

Catcher Brayan Pena was the lone Royals batter without a hit on the day as Kansas City moves closer to assuring themselves of avoiding the 100-loss plateau. The team record now sits at 57-81 overall. Through 138 games last season, Kansas City also stood with the same record on their way to a 67-95 finish.

Aaron Crow earned the win for Kansas City and evened his mark at 4-4, while Joakim Soria notched his 25th save. He was solid in the ninth, using just 11 pitches to retire all three batters faced. Phil Coke took the loss for Detroit and is now 2-9.

Kansas City now just sits one game behind the Minnesota Twins for fourth place in the Central Division standings. At 75-62, Detroit still leads the White Sox and Cleveland Indians by 5.5 games.