KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Victor Martinez matched a career-best with three home runs, the Tigers pounded six as a team and Detroit sailed to a 10-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night to open their four-game series.
Martinez hit a pair of solo shots and Nick Castellanos went deep before James McCann homered off Royals reliever Luke Hochevar (1-1) leading off the seventh to knot the game 4-all. Cabrera followed moments later with a two-run shot that gave the Tigers their first lead of the game.
Detroit added three more runs in the eighth before Martinez hit his third homer in the ninth. The veteran designated hitter's other three-homer game came on July 16, 2004, at Seattle.
Justin Verlander (7-5) allowed four runs on eight hits over seven innings, continuing his mastery of the Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Verlander improved to 13-5 in 22 starts in the ballpark (see full recap).
Lewis loses no-hitter in 9th inning of Rangers' victory
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Colby Lewis took a no-hit bid into the ninth inning for Texas before Max Muncy broke it up with a leadoff double that glanced off right fielder Nomar Mazara's glove Thursday in the Rangers' 5-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics.
Lewis was perfect until walking Yonder Alonso with two outs in the eighth.
Muncy began the ninth with a drive to deep right field. Mazara, a rookie who made a nice running catch to rob Muncy in the third, ran hard toward the corner and tracked down this ball but couldn't hold onto it as he crashed into the padded wall.
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Mazara looked at his glove as he retrieved the ball. Official scorer David Feldman immediately called the play a double, ending Lewis' quest for Texas' first no-hitter in 22 years.
Two batters later, Lewis (6-0) lost his shutout when left fielder Ryan Rua couldn't make a diving catch on a blooper by Coco Crisp that went for an RBI double (see full recap).
Homers, Colon spark Mets to win over Pirates
NEW YORK -- Neil Walker and Michael Conforto gave the Mets an immediate jolt in their return from nagging injuries, and Bartolo Colon pitched New York to a 6-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.
Curtis Granderson set a Mets record for leadoff homers, while Walker also went deep and had three RBIs against his former team after missing the previous three games with a sore lower back.
Conforto, who hadn't started since Saturday, landed right on his ailing left wrist when he saved a run with a sensational diving catch in the first inning. Showing no ill effects, the left fielder followed Walker's two-run shot in the third inning with a home run of his own to snap a 5-for-54 slump.
Colon (6-3) doubled and scored earlier in the inning on Yoenis Cespedes' deep sacrifice fly, drawing a happy roar from the crowd of 33,052 following his jaunt around the bases.
All three Mets homers came off Juan Nicasio (5-6), who gave up six runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings as the Pirates (33-33) fell back to .500 with their seventh loss in eight games (see full recap).
