Tigers third baseman Nicholas Castellanos crushed a 432-foot, two-run home run to dead center in the second inning. In the third, center fielder Mikie Mahtook went 445 feet, splashing into the fountains in left-center.
Ian Kinsler contributed to the offensive output against Royals starter Jason Vargas with a double in the first and triples in the second and third.
Kinsler entered Monday's game with one triple in 324 plate appearances this year. He became the 13th Tiger to have at least two triples and one double in a game since 1913.
The last was Austin Jackson on Aug. 5, 2012, against Cleveland.
Zimmermann was great: He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing one run on seven hits. He tied a season-high with seven strikeouts and didn?t walk a batter.
Zimmermann didn't reach two balls in a count until his 16th batter in the game. He had eight 0-2 counts during that span.
He became the first pitcher since 2008 ? and first Tiger since 1988 ? to throw 81% strikes. Of his 97 pitches, 79 were strikes.
Victor Martinez's RBI single in the fourth inning gave the Tigers a 7-0 lead and gave him 2,006 career hits. That ties Frank White, who spent all 18 of his MLB seasons playing for the Royals.
Vargas and Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera were teammates on the 2005 Florida Marlins. Both were 22 years old at the time, although Vargas was a rookie and Cabrera was in his third season in the big leagues.
Royals reliever Al Alburquerque pitched a scoreless eighth inning, his first appearance against the Tigers.
He pitched for Detroit from 2011-2015. Another former Tiger, Neftali Feliz, pitched the ninth.
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/tigers-...482#game_state=final,game_tab=box,game=491482
Boxscxore.
http://m.mlb.com/det/video/search?team_id=116&tagName=Detroit Tigers
Webvideo Highlights of the Tigers win over the royals.
ROARS:
Jordan Zimmermann: It wasn?t always pretty (as seems to be the case in most of Zimmermann?s starts) but it was effective. Zimmermann held the Royals to just one run in 6 2⁄3 innings while striking out seven.
Ian Kinsler: He mashed his way to a double and two triples in his first three at-bats, and had the aforementioned base running savvy to preserve a first inning rally. The cycle didn?t happen, but that?s about the only bad thing I can say about this performance.
Mikie Mahtook: Three hits, including a massive home run to left? Yup, that?s a roar. Mahtook is now hitting .276 this season (just don?t look at his on-base percentage).
HISSES:
Warwick Saupold: He faced four batters and retired only one, allowing a home run to Eric Hosmer in the process. Not good, mate.
Tigers relievers past and present: Not only did Saupold struggle, but former Tigers reliever Neftali Feliz gave up a pair of runs in the ninth. Al Alburquerque threw a scoreless eighth for the Royals, though.