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With Jarrod Dyson batting, Verlander hurt his shoulder in bizarre fashion. Avila, the catcher, was making a routine throw back to the pitcher when his arm collided with the hand of plate umpire Bill Welke, causing the ball to scoot low across the ground in front of the mound. Verlander lunged to stop it and grimaced as he got up.
"I gave myself a little bit of a scare -- and everybody else," Verlander said. "But it's my left arm. Maybe I can throw with it just dangling. Who knows?"
He struck out Dyson and Alcides Escobar to end the threat.
The Tigers padded their lead in the bottom half with another wacky play. With runners on first and second, Austin Jackson hit an RBI double down the right-field line, and another run came home when Jeff Francoeur's throw to second skipped away for an error. Gordon, the left fielder, retrieved the ball and easily threw out Jackson trying to advance to third -- earning an assist on a play that began on the opposite side of the outfield.
"We try to entertain everybody," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We try to give everybody a good piece of entertainment."
Andy Dirks made it 5-1 with an RBI single in the sixth.
Billy Butler had three hits for the Royals, including an RBI single in the eighth. He's hitting .396 (21 for 53) off Verlander.
Dirks answered with another RBI single of his own.
Miguel Cabrera singled to extend his hitting streak to 14 games, but the Detroit slugger no longer leads the American League in home runs. He fell behind Josh Hamilton of Texas, meaning Cabrera will need to make up ground in his Triple Crown chase.
NOTES: Leyland won his 600th game as Detroit's manager. ... Verlander took over the major league lead with 231 strikeouts, three more than teammate Max Scherzer. ... Hochevar allowed nine runs in four innings against the Tigers on May 1. ... Detroit RHP Anibal Sanchez (3-6) faces Kansas City LHP Bruce Chen (11-12) on Tuesday night.
[Associated
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