Scherzer struggles, Tigers lose 9-5 to Royals

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DETROIT (AP)-Jim Leyland has stressed that the Detroit Tigers need pitching from someone other than Justin Verlander<a href="http://www.wholesaler-china.com/"></a> if they want to hang on in the AL Central.<br /><br />The last two games have proven his point.<br /><br />A day after Brad Penny gave up seven runs in five innings, it was Max Scherzer<a href="http://www.wholesaler-china.com/jerseys-nfl-jerseys-c-65_66.html"></a> (13-8) who allowed seven runs in three innings as the Tigers lost 9-5 to the Kansas City Royals Monday night.<br />“It’s pitching, pitching and pitching that decide most games, ” Leyland said. “We got some very good pitching for a while and got on a roll, but now we haven’t gotten that in the last two days. ”<br />Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon all homered while Johnny Giavotella<a href="http://www.wholesaler-china.com/jerseys-mlb-jerseys-c-65_97.html"></a> added a bases-loaded double for the Royals, who came in 18 1/2 games behind Central Division leaders.<br /><br />“I couldn’t locate my pitches, and that cost me tonight, ” Scherzer said. “When I threw good pitches, they hit them, and when I threw bad pitches, they hit them harder. ”<br /><br />Leyland wasn’t surprised by Kansas City’s offensive show. The Royals finished with 18 hits.<br /><br />“People need to realize that isn’t the team that fell way out of the race, ” he said of the Royals. “They’ve brought up some young, aggressive hitters that are pretty impressive. ”<br /><br />Luke Hochevar (9-10) ended a four-start winless streak. He gave up five runs on eight hits in seven innings.<br /><br />Gordon led off the game with his 19th homer, and Perez’s RBI double made it 2-0 in the second.<br /><br />“I remembered that (Scherzer) likes to start fastball, fastball, fastball, so I was expecting the last one, ” Gordon said. “We knew we needed to score runs against them. ”<br /><br />The Royals then broke the game open with three runs in the third. Melky Cabrera and Billy Butler started the inning with singles, and Eric Hosmer walked to load the bases. Scherzer retired the next two batters, but Giavotella hit a line-drive into the right-center gap, scoring all three runners.<br /><br />The Tigers<a href="http://www.wholesaler-china.com/jerseys-nhl-jerseys-c-65_98.html"></a> made it 5-3 in the bottom of the inning on an RBI groundout by Ramon Santiago and run-scoring singles by Delmon Young and Victor Martinez, but Scherzer couldn’t keep the Tigers in the game.<br /><br />Perez led off the fourth with his first career homer-a 415-foot drive to left-center that bounced off the brick wall behind the seats-and Escobar followed with a shot into the left-field stands.<br /><br />Gordon singled, ending Scherzer’s night, but Duane Below got out of the inning.<br /><br />Miguel Cabrera’s RBI double pulled the Tigers back to 7-4, but the Royals got RBIs from Cabrera and Hosmer to put the game away in the sixth.<br /><br />Detroit threatened in the eighth, adding a fifth run, but Blake Woodcame in to get a double play and a strikeout to escape further damage. Wood also pitched the ninth for his first career save.<br /><br />NOTES: The Tigers announced before the game that OF Brennan Boesc will need surgery to fix a sprained thumb, but that he will try to find a way to play with the injury. Boesch has only played once since Aug. 22 because of the injury. … RP Al Alburquerque (concussion) has been cleared to resume baseball activities, and will be available after getting his arm ready. Alburquerque has been sidelined since he was hit with a ball during batting practice in Baltimore on Aug. 13.