Tigers maul Royals

The Tigers had scored just eleven runs against the Royals in six games this year, all of them losses. Tonight, the Bengals exploded for 19 runs on 18 hits in a 19-4 rout over the Royals in Kansas City. They built up a 19-0 lead by scoring five in the third, two in the fifth, two more in the seventh and finally ten in the eighth. The three through five batters in the order - Carlos Guillen, Miguel Cabrera and Matt Joyce combined to go 12 for 16 with 13 RBI and 10 runs scored. This how it broke down individually:

• Guillen - 3 hits and 5 runs scored

• Cabrera - 5 hits and 6 RBI, both tying career highs

• Joyce - 4 hits, 5 RBI and a double short of the cycle

• Granderson - 3 hits and 4 runs

The pitching victims were Luke Hochevar, Robinson Tejeda and Jimmy Gobble who combined to give up all the runs. Gobble had a particularly ugly outing allowing all 10 runs in the ugly eighth. The best Royal pitcher tonight was infielder Tony Pena Jr. who easily retired the side in the 9th and threw a few pitches 90 MPH or better.

Even more encouraging than the Tigers big offensive explosion was Zach Miner's start. Miner went six shutout innings allowing just three hits and one walk. It was only his second start in two years since his fairly successful stint as Mike Maroth's replacement in 2006. He'll be making more starts this year. In fact, the fifth starter job is his to lose right now.

The Tigers gained ground on both the White Sox and Twins for the second straight day. The Twins lost to the Yankees12-4 and the White Sox lost to the Rangers 6-1. The Tigers are now 5 1/2 games behind Chicago and 5 behind Minnesota.