DETROIT -- Pitch after pitch, start after start, Anibal Sanchez continues to show that he is the lone starter completely immune from the Tigers' struggles.Thursday afternoon, when Detroit needed a win to avoid its first four-game series sweep at home by Kansas City since 1984, he did it again. Behind his seven innings of one-run ball, the Tigers ended a disappointing homestand with a 2-1 victory at Comerica Park that snapped the Royals' 10-game winning streak. 
Despite collecting only three hits off Kansas City starter Danny Duffy, Detroit now sits a half-game behind the Royals in the American League Central. The Tigers entered this week's series with a 1 1/2-game lead.The Royals opened the game's scoring in the first inning with a pair of doubles. From that point on, however, Sanchez allowed just three more hits and no more runs. For the first time in his career, he didn't record a strikeout.During the course of Detroit's month-long skid, Sanchez has a 1.94 ERA in six starts.The Tigers took the lead in the fourth inning, when Austin Jackson led off with a single and Miguel Cabrera doubled to the base of the left-center-field wall, tying the game. Victor Martinez followed with a fly out to right, and Cabrera was caught sleeping returning to second base, allowing the Royals to complete the double play after a Royals challenge overturned the initial call that ruled Cabrera safe at second.The next batter, J.D. Martinez, hit a solo shot to right, which held up as the winning run.Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Joe Nathan recorded his first save since May 29.Detroit, which finished the homestand 3-4, now embarks on a nine-game road trip that will begin with three games against the third-place Indians.Matt Slovin / MLB.com
Despite collecting only three hits off Kansas City starter Danny Duffy, Detroit now sits a half-game behind the Royals in the American League Central. The Tigers entered this week's series with a 1 1/2-game lead.The Royals opened the game's scoring in the first inning with a pair of doubles. From that point on, however, Sanchez allowed just three more hits and no more runs. For the first time in his career, he didn't record a strikeout.During the course of Detroit's month-long skid, Sanchez has a 1.94 ERA in six starts.The Tigers took the lead in the fourth inning, when Austin Jackson led off with a single and Miguel Cabrera doubled to the base of the left-center-field wall, tying the game. Victor Martinez followed with a fly out to right, and Cabrera was caught sleeping returning to second base, allowing the Royals to complete the double play after a Royals challenge overturned the initial call that ruled Cabrera safe at second.The next batter, J.D. Martinez, hit a solo shot to right, which held up as the winning run.Joba Chamberlain pitched a scoreless eighth inning, and Joe Nathan recorded his first save since May 29.Detroit, which finished the homestand 3-4, now embarks on a nine-game road trip that will begin with three games against the third-place Indians.Matt Slovin / MLB.com
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