DETROIT -AP- The Kansas City Royals don't play the Detroit Tigersagain until September.That might be the one thing that keeps them from making a postseason run.The Royals extended their winning streak to eight games with a 16-2 rout of the Tigers on Wednesday night. Five of the eight wins have come against the Tigers, who they have outscored 40-10 in the last four games, including a 16-4 win on July 20."We feel good right now," Royals manager Ned Yost said. "It is great that we have an off day tomorrow, but the way we are playing, you kind of wish maybe we could have an off day three or four days from now."
The winning streak is Kansas City's longest since a nine-game run from Aug. 14-23 last season."Our offense is giving us so much right now," Yost said. "They just keep plugging away."Detroit has lost six of eight as trade rumors swirl around several key players."That can't matter unless you actually get traded," Justin Uptonsaid. "We all know how this game works, so it is pretty unprofessional if that's hindering anyone's performance."Eric Hosmer matched a career high with five hits, including his first grand slam. He had six RBI and scored four runs."We had a lot of guys who started out rough this year, including me, but now we're in a good place," he said.Hosmer entered with 117 homers but had not hit one with the bases loaded until he connected off Warwick Saupold in a nine-run seventh inning."I think the last grand slam I hit might have been in high school," he said. "I'm glad to finally get one up here."Bruce Rondon was ejected with one out in the ninth after hitting Mike Moustakas on the back with a pitch, which caused both benches to empty. Rondon declined to speak to the media after the game."I think he was trying to hit me," said Moustakas, who took a couple of steps toward the mound before stopping. "I don't really understand what happened, but I got hit. I've been hit before. It's not a big deal."Utilityman Andrew Romine entered in his third big league pitching appearance and faced five batters, allowing a walk, RBI single, sacrifice fly, hit batter and fly out."You never want to do that, because you are risking a guy's career," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "Unfortunately, Romie has had to do that before, so he knows not to try to do too much."Ian Kennedy (4-6) improved to 3-0 in his last six starts, allowing one run and three hits in six innings.Anibal Sanchez (2-1) had his worst start since returning in mid-June from a month-long demotion to the minor leagues. He allowed four runs and nine hits in 3 2/3 innings."They just did a great job of hitting," he said. "Every time they made contact, it found a hole, and I wasn't able to stop them."Hosmer reached on an infield single in the second, stole second and scored when Alcides Escobar singled on a 66 mph changeup. Kansas City made it 4-0 in the third on run-scoring singles by Jorge Bonifacio, Hosmer and Brandon Moss.Jose Iglesias doubled in Detroit's first run in the fifth, and Moustakas' RBI single off Chad Bell sparked the big inning. Hosmer homered on a changeup, a drive over the out-of-town scoreboard, for a 13-1 lead.
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