The Royals celebrate their 2-1 win over the Tigers. (photo/MLB)

The Royals celebrate their 2-1 win over the Tigers. (photo/MLB)

The Kansas City Royals won their 10th straight game, as Jeremy Guthrie got just enough offensive support for a 2-1 victory over the Detroit Tigers 2-1 Wednesday afternoon.  The AL Central-leading Royals extended their division lead over the Tigers to 1.5 games.

Guthrie (4-6) allowed four hits and struck out nine in 6.2 innings. He was backed by Alex Gordon’s RBI single that deflected off the second-base bag in the first and a solo homer by former Tiger Omar Infante in the fifth.  J.D. Martinez homered for the Tigers in the seventh, but the Kansas City bullpen got the last seven outs, with Greg Holland pitching the ninth for his 21st save in 22 chances.

With a runner on second in the first, Gordon’s two-out bouncer up the middle looked like a groundout to the shortstop, but it careened off second base for a hit, letting Eric Hosmer score.  Up 2-0, the Royals gave up a J.D. Martinez homer in the seventh, and Nick Castellanos nearly tied it later  with a two-out drive to left that bounced off the fence for a double. Kelvin Herrera relieved Guthrie and retired Don Kelly on a lineout to center. Wade Davis struck out the side in the eighth, and Holland made it through the ninth after allowing a leadoff single to Miguel Cabrera.