KANSAS CITY -- Gordon Beckham has more home runs and RBIs at Kauffman Stadium than at any ballpark he hasn’t called home. Still, for all the good-natured ribbing he has taken from teammates for not being a big power hitter this season, his drive over the Tigers’ bullpen beyond the left-field fence was as impressive of a statement as the seven-run third inning it punctuated on Sunday afternoon.

The two-out squeeze bunt Beckham tried to lay down three innings later was an equally effective statement on how the game followed. So was an appearance from The Count, of Sesame Street, to perform the seventh-inning stretch.

One, two, three, 12 runs. And Detroit needed just about all of them in a 12-8 win over the Royals.

• Box score

“We knew we were in a dogfight when they started coming back again,” Beckham said. “It’s just one of those things where you have to keep going and not even think about how much you’re up.”

By the time the Tigers finished off their win to salvage a game from their weekend series and end a five-game losing streak, Harold Castro had his first career four-hit game, Niko Goodrum had another, and every hitter in Detroit’s starting lineup had at least one hit. So, too, did all but two members of the Royals’ lineup. The Tigers set season highs for runs and hits. And as All-Star closer Shane Greene finally finished off the Royals in the ninth, the Homer Bailey trade to Oakland that scratched Kansas City’s starter just before first pitch was old news.

It was a scorefest that defied the script of most Tigers wins this season, low-scoring pitching duels decided late. And yet, Beckham’s drive to left was Detroit’s only home run of the day.

“With our [pitching] staff, we know that if we can score some runs, we're in the game,” Beckham said. “So I think it was a good show our offense is coming around, and hopefully, we can pick up the pitchers, because our pitchers for a long time picked us up.”

Both Royals spot starter Brian Flynn, a former Tigers prospect, and Detroit starter Jordan Zimmermann gave up seven runs -- Flynn over two-plus innings, Zimmermann over four-plus. For Flynn, the predicament was understandable, thrust into a last-minute assignment with Bailey traded. For Zimmermann, the struggles were frustrating, especially in a situation where he once thrived.

Not since Mike Maroth has a Tigers pitcher opened a season 0-7. Zimmermann took the mound on Sunday with an 0-6 record, but he went out for the fourth inning with a 9-3 lead, having recovered from Jorge Soler’s two-run homer to retire seven in a row. Even after Soler doubled in a run in the fourth, Zimmermann went back out for the fifth with a 10-4 advantage, needing three outs to qualify for a win.

“These guys come out and put up runs like that, as a starting pitcher, you have to go out there and get outs,” Zimmermann said. “You don't have to be perfect. You just have to get outs with a big lead like that.”

Zimmermann’s slider was flat, forcing him to rely on his curveball, but with three outs to go, he went back to the slider. Four batters and four hits later, the right-hander was done.

“I threw one down and in to [Adalberto] Mondesi [on an 0-2 pitch] that just spun,” he said. “It was right in the corner of the box, but it didn't break. It just spun. If it breaks, it's down and in, and he probably swings over the top of it. It's not going good for me right now. I'm in a tough spot and I just need to keep working and get out of it.”

Manager Ron Gardenhire couldn’t wait. His frustration was evident as he chucked his gum on his way out of the dugout to take the ball.

“He wanted to be the guy that got the win today,” Gardenhire said. “We tried to let him get out there and stay with it, but it just didn't work out. These guys are an aggressive hitting team, and they put some swings on him.”

The Tigers answered and kept on hitting. Castro drove an RBI double off the left-field wall in the fifth inning, then he singled home another run in the seventh. Brandon Dixon picked up an insurance run when his fly ball carried into deep left-center field and fell between Alex Gordon and Bubba Starling for an RBI double in the seventh.

“We came out of the chute pretty good and continued,” Gardenhire said. “We just didn't go away after we scored a few runs. We kept adding on.”

The add-on runs rewarded three innings of effective long relief from Nick Ramirez (4-3), who now has more wins than every Tigers starter but Matthew Boyd. Eventually, it allowed the rest of the team to take a take a deep breath.