Guthrie, Perez leads Royals to 6th straight win

[June 11, 2013]  KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Jeremy Guthrie pitched impressively into the seventh inning, Salvador Perez hit a two-run triple and the Kansas City Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2 Monday night for their sixth straight victory.

Guthrie (7-3) limited the Tigers to a two-run homer by Miguel Cabrera in 6 1-3 innings in helping the Royals to extend their longest winning streak since they won seven straight in September 2011. He gave up six hits and walked three.

Aaron Crow replaced Guthrie after he gave up a single to Avisail Garcia and he hit Andy Dirks with an 0-2 pitch. Crow retired Torii Hunter on a fly to shallow right and struck out Cabrera to end the threat.

Cabrera, who tops the American League with 90 hits and 69 RBIs, hit his 18th home run in the second after Hunter doubled.

Perez's one-out triple in the third scored Alcides Escobar and Eric Hosmer after they each singled. Lorenzo Cain's two-out infield single scored Perez with the go-ahead run.

Doug Fister (5-4), who is 0-3 in five starts since a victory May 14 over Houston, went the distance. He allowed three runs on nine hits.

Greg Holland worked a flawless ninth for his 13th save in 15 opportunities.

The Royals are 7-2 in June after losing 20 of 28 games in May. The pitching staff has a 1.44 ERA in June.

The Royals improved to 8-3 since George Brett was named the interim hitting coach on May 30.

NOTES: Tigers CF Austin Jackson, who went on the disabled list May 12 with a left hamstring pull, began an injury rehab assignment Monday with Triple-A Toledo. . Royals LHP Danny Duffy, who had Tommy John surgery last June, made a rehab start Monday for Class-A Omaha, giving up seven runs on seven hits, two walks and a hit batter in 2 1-3 innings, throwing 58 pitches at Nashville. . The Royals signed Stephen F. Austin SS Hunter Dozier, the eighth overall pick in the draft, to a $2.2 million signing bonus, which is $937,800 under the allotted slot bonus. . RHP Anibal Sanchez, who missed a start Sunday with shoulder stiffness, will probably make his next start. "I think so," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. ...The Tigers recalled RHP Evan Reed from Triple-A Toledo, where he was 1-1 with a 2.53 ERA in 21 outings.

[Associated Press]

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