Victor Martinez Hits 3 Homers In Tigers’ 10-4 Rout Of Royals

Victor Martinez hit three home runs and Miguel Cabrera blasted a two-run, go-ahead shot in the seventh inning to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 10-4 road victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night.

Victor Martinez Hits 3 Homers In Tigers’ 10-4 Rout Of Royals

The Royals, who snapped a five-game winning streak, dropped out of first place in the AL Central, falling a half-game behind the Cleveland Indians, who lead the Tigers by 1 1/2.

Martinez’s last three-homer game came on July 16, 2004 against the Seattle Mariners, and he seemed to recall it perfectly.

“Same as today. Two right-handed, one left-handed,” the designated hitter and first baseman said. “The only difference is that game was a 5-for-5 with seven RBIs.”

Martinez waited until he heard a few surprised laughs.

“What else do you want to know?” the 37-year-old Venezuelan asked. He is the second-oldest player to record a three-homer game in team history.

The Tigers gained the lead for good in the seventh after trailing 4-1, hitting two homers off Royals reliever Luke Hochevar. James McCann tied it with a solo shot, and Cabrera hit his 13th home run with a man on to give Detroit a 6-4 lead.

“There wasn’t a great feeling in the dugout the first two innings,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “It seemed like everything was moving underwater a little bit. But they kept plugging away, and then the bats came alive.”

Right-hander Justin Verlander pitched seven innings for the Tigers and earned his seventh victory. He allowed four runs on eight hits and struck out seven.

The Tigers’ victory was tampered, however, by slugger J.D. Martinez’s right elbow injury. In the second inning, Martinez ran into the right-field wall tracking a deep fly ball by Orlando and fractured his right elbow. He is expected to miss 4-6 weeks.

Royals left-hander Danny Duffy gave up three solo home runs and worked through five innings, but left with a 4-3 lead. Duffy allowed four hits, walked two and struck out four after throwing 88 pitches.

“He started laboring in the fourth a little bit,” Kansas City manager Ned Yost said of Duffy. “We got him through five innings and we had the lead. We’ll take that with our bullpen. It just didn’t work out tonight.”

Duffy expressed disappointment with his performance, but said he would try to learn from it.

“I hung our bullpen out to dry,” he said. “My goal was to get into the seventh. It didn’t happen. I’ll take this and build on it.”

Royals center fielder Brett Eibner, fresh off the disabled list following an ankle sprain, picked up right where he left off as he singled up the middle off Verlander in the second, driving in Paulo Orlando, who had tripled. In his next at-bat, Eibner, who was 6-for-13 before his injury, belted a fastball to right-center for his first career homer.

“I’m always looking to hit every pitch,” Eibner said of his matchups with Verlander. “I got to be aggressive, especially against a guy like that with the stuff he has and the history he has. I can’t afford to miss pitches, especially against him, so I jumped it, a fastball.”

Right-hander Yordano Ventura (5-4, 4.93 ERA) will start for the Royals for the second game of the four-game series against the Tigers on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium. Rookie right-hander Michael Fulmer (7-1, 2.52 ERA) will start for the Tigers after a scoreless streak of 28 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old hasn’t allowed a run since May 21, and he has four consecutive scoreless performances of six or more innings with three or fewer hits allowed.

PHOTO: KANSAS CITY, MO – JUNE 16: Victor Martinez #41 of the Detroit Tigers hits a home run in the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on June 16, 2016 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)