Omar Infante claps his hands after scoring in the seventh inning. (photo/MLB)

Omar Infante claps his hands after scoring in the seventh inning. (photo/MLB)

A five-run seventh inning sparked by an Omar Infante two-run single and an RBI double from Eric Hosmer pushed the Royals past Detroit 5-2 to avoid a four-game sweep against the Tigers on Sunday.  The Royals enter the All-Star break 6.5 games out.

The Royals got started late in this one.  Four of the runs in that seventh inning were charged to Justin Verlander (8-8), who started the inning with a two-hit shutout but loaded the bases on three straight singles.

Raul Ibanez loaded the bases in the seventh with a single that snapped a 0-for-25 slump.  Alcides Escobar brought in a run with a slow-rolling infield single.  After a fielder’s choice scored another run to tie the game at 2-2, Ian Krol replaced Verlander and intentionally walked pinch hitter Salvador Perez.  Infante then singled in two to make it 4-2 and then scored when Eric Hosmer’s double stretched his career-best hitting streak to 13 games.