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ÒPlay nine innings,Ó Leyland repeated to reporters afterwards.

The Tigers won seven games last year in which they trailed after eight innings, including an early August win over the Indians on a walk-off homer from Rodriguez before a sellout crowd at Comerica Park. SundayÕs blast wasnÕt nearly as dramatic, but considering Detroit was three outs away from being shut out, it was no less impressive.

After all the comebacks last year, the Tigers say they donÕt panic in those situations. They know the nine hard innings phrase by heart after last year, but Leyland reminds them in case. Plus, the ninth can be the toughest for the Royals with closer Octavio Dotel on the disabled list. Tigers closer Todd Jones began thinking about who the Royals would send up in the bottom of the inning.

David Riske entered and gave up OrdonezÕs first hit of the series, a double off the right-field fence. That brought up Carlos Guillen, the only Tiger with two hits on the day. With first base open, Riske fell behind with a 2-0 count, brought it back to 2-2, then missed a full-count delivery off the outside corner.

Ordonez was 6-for-18 lifetime with two homers and four RBIs off Riske entering Sunday. Guillen was 3-for-13 with no extra-base hits and five strikeouts.

Having just walked the potentially tying run, Riske had to face Rodriguez, who was 3-for-10 off him with two doubles and a homer. The All-Star catcher made an impression in Spring Training with his lengthy at-bats in a leadoff role. In this case, however, he was his usual aggressive self.

Bonderman hasnÕt lost to the Royals since Sept. 19, 2005. The Tigers have lost just once at Kauffman Stadium since the start of the 2006 season. Their latest win wasnÕt dominant, but it was a reminder. * Mike Maroth insisted all along his return wouldnÕt be a huge deal for him. Getting the win was.

The last time he made a Major League start, he left the field here at Kauffman Stadium in the first inning last May 25 after allowing three straight home runs and base hits to six out of the seven batters he faced. His comeback Saturday afternoon wasnÕt a vintage Maroth outing, but it didnÕt have to be.

Gary SheffieldÕs first in a Detroit uniform, helped fuel a 6-5 win.

Maroth retired the side in order in his opening inning but had to deal with trouble in each of his four innings after that, while he tried to find his command. Reggie SandersÕ two-run homer powered a three-run third inning that saw Maroth surrender four hits. That followed Esteban GermanÕs RBI single in the second.

Most Tigers said they werenÕt trying to win specifically for Maroth as much as they were simply trying to win period Ñ a reasonable approach considering the Royals had beaten them four straight times since the final weekend of last season. Yet the way the Tigers offense worked, they provided a major help for him. Every time the Royals seemed to gain some momentum, the Tigers answered.

After Kansas City shortstop Tony Pena Jr. made an acrobatic, rolling stop and throw to rob Placido Polanco of a would-be single in the first inning, Sheffield pulled the next pitch from Gil Meche (1-1) deep down the left-field line for a solo homer to open the scoring.

The RoyalsÕ three-run third had nullified a three-run Tigers rally in the top of the inning, when Curtis Granderson, Polanco and Sheffield hit consecutive singles ahead of a Magglio Ordonez sacrifice fly. When Detroit came back to bat with the game tied, Ivan Rodriguez hit the first pitch of the fourth inning into the Tigers bullpen for his first home run of the season.

Maroth seemed to rebound from there, going more to his cutter and becoming a little more aggressive. He erased a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the fourth by picking off Ryan Shealy before racking up back-to-back strikeouts on John Buck and Pena. He turned a David DeJesus walk leading off the fifth into an inning-ending double play by inducing a Mike Sweeney comebacker, after Polanco hit the infield dirt to snare a Mark Grudzielanek line drive.

* Remember when the Tigers won 15 out of 16 against the Royals last year? The Tigers arenÕt trying to think about that, either.

On a night when Justin Verlander showed the award-winning form that American League hitters remember, the Royals matched him before giving Jose Mesa a Tigers debut he might rather forget. After Verlander and Jorge De La Rosa dueled to a tie score through six innings, Kansas City used three straight hits - including a wind-blown fly-ball RBI single - to plate two runs in the seventh and hand Detroit a 3-1 loss Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.

It was the first loss for the Tigers in Kansas City since 2005.

David DeJesusÕ double and Magglio OrdonezÕs error leading off the bottom of the first inning set up a lone unearned run against Verlander, who didnÕt allow a hit after Tony Pena Jr.Õs one-out double in the third. Verlander walked five of 11 batters he faced in the fourth and fifth innings, but he used two key strikeouts to escape damage.

Verlander walked the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth, a quagmire Leyland attributed in part to trying to pitch for the strikeout. He got the third strike he needed with back-to-back fastballs on Mike Sweeney, the latter at 97 mph on the outside corner for a call to end the inning.

An inning earlier, after retiring nine in a row, Verlander had walked Sweeney and Mark Teahen back-to-back to lead off the fourth. He used 98 mph fastballs to set up back-to-back changeups that sent Ryan Shealy down swinging for the second out. Then he jammed Ross Gload at 97 mph for a first-pitch fielderÕs choice groundout.

The Royals could say the same for De La Rosa, facing the Tigers for the first time in his career.

Verlander actually threw more strikes in fewer pitches than De La Rosa (1-0), who walked three batters and allowed four hits over seven innings Friday. However, De La Rosa allowed just two runners in scoring position, and DetroitÕs lone run came without benefit of a base hit.

Carlos Guillen and Sean Casey drew back-to-back one-out walks in the second, before Guillen stole third base and scored on MonroeÕs sacrifice fly.

Monroe was thinking sacrifice fly later in the game, too, but it was in the field. ThatÕs where the elements came into play.

Once Verlander left, the game-deciding rally came from the bottom of Kansas CityÕs order. Jason LaRue doubled off Mesa (0-1) to the fence in right-center field - leading off the bottom of the seventh Ñ and scored when Pena poked an opposite-field triple into the right-field corner. DeJesus followed with a high fly ball into shallow left field. Monroe seemingly camped behind it and was readying to charge under it for a throw should Pena try to score. However, the ball never got to him, dropping for a single when a gust of wind seemingly knocked it down.