DETROIT -- On a Saturday night when the Tigers honored Dan Dickerson for his 25th season calling Tigers games, they gave their longtime play-by-play broadcaster something to yell about.

“Line drive to left field, hit hard,” Dickerson said as Matt Vierling’s line drive to left kept carrying, “and over the head of [Royals left fielder Dairon] Blanco! Gone!”

Dickerson called it, his voice rising at the very end as the three-run homer put Detroit on top of what had been a frustrating game. Vierling couldn’t call it, not even in his mind.

“I just didn’t know if it was going to get out or not,” he said after the 6-5 win over the Royals at Comerica Park. “I felt like I hit it good enough to get it over his head, but I didn’t think it was going to go out.”

It was a line drive that took off, eerily similar to a home run Vierling hit in the same spot in the Tigers’ home opener three weeks ago. That one was hit a little higher, but this one was hit harder.

Had it been hit any lower, it would have put a dent in Comerica Park’s fence. The 14-degree launch angle was the lowest on an outside-the-park home run in the Major Leagues since then-Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts on Aug. 31, 2022 (also 14 degrees). It’s the lowest launch angle on a home run hit out of the park by a Tiger since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

“At the point of contact, all I cared about was getting it over Blanco’s head,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “He gave up on it because it was over his head in a hurry. And then the bonus was getting it over the fence. I mean, that’s a rocket. Matty has that power.”

Vierling hit it with an exit velocity of 110.7 mph. Once the ball cleared Blanco, it was going to drive in the go-ahead run regardless. Mark Canha was on second when the ball was hit, and was rounding third as it cleared the fence and bounced off the roof of the bullpen dugout.

The drive completed a five-run rally in the seventh, giving the Tigers a three-run lead. They ultimately needed all three of those runs to complete the win, their sixth victory this season after trailing through six innings, the Royals’ first blown lead in the seventh inning or later since April 3.

“We’re never out of it,” Vierling said. “I don’t know if it’s becoming a habit. I just think we have a lot of confidence if the game’s in reach.”

It was the latest example of the Tigers turning a frustrating game into victory with a late surge. The six innings before the rally showed why it’s a double-edged trend.

Hinch said earlier this season that there are no bad wins. Still, this one tested his limits on that.

“We can’t keep winning like that,” Hinch said. “So we’re going to need to pick things up and do better. But we’re going to take the win. The fight of this team is really good, and that’s what I love about this team. It’s just unsustainable to make mistakes and put up a five spot against a bullpen.”

For six innings, the Tigers had almost as many errors (three) as hits (four), including back-to-back second-inning errors that led to an unearned run off Tigers starter Casey Mize. With errors at first base, third base and shortstop, Detroit nearly had errors around the infield in a game for the first time since 2012.

Meanwhile, the Tigers plated a run off Royals starter Brady Singer but missed other scoring chances. Their silver lining was working Singer’s pitch count to chase him after five innings. Detroit doubled its hit total in the seventh, all off Royals reliever Chris Stratton, after Jake Rogers led off the inning with a walk.

Vierling didn’t face Singer; he pinch-hit for Colt Keith against lefty Angel Zerpa and grounded out in the sixth. But the at-bat prepared him for the sinker on the inside corner he saw on Stratton’s 1-2 pitch, a strike away from escaping the jam with a tie game.

“I hit a good ball off [Zerpa], stayed inside and drove it up the middle,” Vierling said. “I felt like it was the same exact approach against Stratton.”

All Vierling wanted as he extended his arms was a hit to drive in Canha. He ended up with another dramatic homer, and a gift of a call for Dickerson.

“He did a great job of pulling his hands inside,” Stratton said. “Sometimes, you've just got to tip your cap on a great swing.”