Tigers down Royals in opener of five-game series
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Andy Dirks had a pair of doubles among his four hits to go with two runs scored in the Detroit Tigers' 4-1 win over the Kansas City Royals in the opener of a five-game set.
Anibal Sanchez (11-7) surrendered just a run on seven hits and a walk while fanning five over 7 1/3 innings for the Tigers, who have won back-to-back tilts on the heels of a 1-4 stretch.
Prince Fielder smacked a two-run homer, his first long ball in three weeks, and Joaquin Benoit fired a scoreless ninth to notch his 16th save of the season in the triumph.
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"We don't want to give them any chance to get close to us," Sanchez said, whose Tigers are 8 1/2 games ahead of Kansas City in the AL Central.
Jeremy Guthrie (12-9) allowed four runs on 13 hits over seven frames for Kansas City, which has dropped three straight following a 17-3 stretch that put the Royals in contention for a postseason appearance.
"We had Sanchez early," Kansas City manager Ned Yost. "We just couldn't do anything with him after that."
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Alex Gordon's RBI single in the opening frame staked Kansas City a quick 1-0 lead, but the Tigers answered with a pair of runs in the home first and added two more in the fifth to give them a 4-1 advantage.
Dirks led off the home first with a single and after Torii Hunter and Miguel Cabrera both flied out, Fielder cracked a towering two-run shot that just crept into the front row of seats in right-center to put Detroit in front.
In the fifth, a Dirks double put runners on second and third with one out before Hunter's hot-shot single back through the box plated Jose Iglesias. Dirks came home when Cabrera fisted a looping single into center for Detroit's three-run spread.
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The Royals never got a runner past first base after Chris Getz singled and stole second in the fifth.
Game Notes
Detroit was 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position, while the Royals finished 1-for-9 with RISP ... Fielder has 18 homers and 83 RBI this season ... Cabrera picked up his 115th RBI.