KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A rarely-used backup infielder who never even got into the game made the play of the day for the Detroit Tigers.

From the dugout, Hernan Perez spotted that a Kansas City runner failed to tag up. That set off a wild sequence Saturday that resulted in an out instead of the go-ahead score — plus a lot of discussion — as Detroit beat the Royals 3-2 to boost its AL Central lead.

Winning pitcher Max Scherzer said he’d reward the 23-year-old Perez, who spent most the year in the minors and has only three at-bats this season in the majors.

“Whatever he wants — dinner, lunch, breakfast, drinks, you name it,” Scherzer said. “That’s a one-in-a-million play. It’s unbelievable that we had someone on the bench be astute enough to see that.”

Joe Nathan escaped a ninth-inning jam as the Tigers increased their edge to 2½ games over the Royals.

Kansas City leads by a half-game for the second wild-card spot over Seattle, which lost to Houston later Saturday.

Detroit, seeking its fourth straight division title, has won 13 of 18 against the Royals this year, including eight of nine at Kauffman Stadium.

It was 1-all in the Royals sixth when things got crazy.

With Salvador Perez on third and Eric Hosmer on second with one out, Omar Infante lined out to second baseman Ian Kinsler. Trying for a double play, Kinsler threw to shortstop Eugenio Suarez and the ball sailed into left field.

Perez, who had been trying to get back to third after the catch, reversed course, headed home and appeared to score the tiebreaking run.

“I have to give credit where credit is due,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “Hernan Perez was the guy who initially noticed it, sitting on the bench watching the game.”

“That’s how it all started,” he said.

Scherzer (17-5) got back on the mound and made an appeal throw to third, saying that Perez never tagged up. Third base umpire and crew chief Larry Vanover called Perez safe, prompting Ausmus to ask for video review challenge.

“You have to appeal. They called him safe on the appeal. I told Larry Vanover, ‘We’re appealing that Perez never went back and touched the bag.’ ”

“There was some discussion on whether that’s a challengeable play, because a tag-up on a fly ball is not. This wasn’t a case whether a guy left early. This was a missed base, which is challengeable,” he said.

The umpires checked with the replay booth in New York, and were told the play was indeed not reviewable.

On the videoboard, meanwhile, a replay was displayed that clearly showed Perez never tagged up. The umpires gathered again and reversed their original call, ruling Perez out and ending the inning.

“We started talking about what happened,” Vanover said in a statement. “We walked through the play. We took a consensus of the information, out of that crew consultation, we came up with the answer that he didn’t tag up.”

“Originally, I thought he was coming back, so I ruled safe on the appeal, but now after the crew consultation we took a consensus of the information.”

Added Vanover: “The crew was like 75 percent that you can’t review that, but we weren’t 1,000 percent. And in that situation, I didn’t want to not go to the headset and ask to review it when I could have. I wanted to make darn sure I didn’t mess that up.”

Perez said it was a confusing sequence.

“I don’t know what the rule is there in that situation. I never see something like that before. It’s never happened to me before,” he said.

Royals manager Ned Yost said the team wouldn’t contest the call any further.

“You can’t protest a judgment call,” Yost said.

Pinch-hitter Tyler Collins and Rajai Davis hit RBI singles in the seventh off James Shields (14-8).

Jarrod Dyson and Alcides Escobar singled with one out in the Royals ninth. They moved up on Nori Aoki’s groundout and were stranded on pinch-hitter Raul Ibanez’s grounder, giving Nathan his 33rd save in 40 tries.

Torii Hunter opened the Tigers’ fourth with his 17th home run. He also singled in the sixth for his sixth straight multihit game, the longest streak of his career.

Escobar hit an RBI single in the fifth and Hosmer singled home a run in the eighth.

Aoki, who was 13 for 16 in the past four games, put down sacrifice bunts in first and third innings, but the Royals failed to convert that into a run off Scherzer.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: RHP Anibal Sanchez, who has not pitched since Aug. 8 because of a right pectoral strain, will throw a simulated game Sunday. … C Alex Avila remains sidelined with concussion-like symptoms and has not played since Sunday.

Royals: LHP Danny Duffy, who has missed his past two starts with a sore shoulder, threw a bullpen session in the ninth inning Friday and is scheduled to rejoin the rotation Tuesday at Cleveland.

UP NEXT

Tigers: Sunday starter Rick Porcello is 2-1 with a 2.18 ERA in three starts this season against the Royals.

Royals: RHP Jeremy Guthrie gave up eight runs, six earned, on 10 hits and one walk in 2 2/3 innings, his shortest outing of the season, in a Sept. 8 start at Detroit.

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Detroit Tigers insisted that they weren’t trying to make a statement.

They accomplished it anyway.

Ian Kinsler hit a two-run homer, everyone in the Detroit starting lineup had a hit by the fourth inning and the Tigers pounded Jason Vargas and the second-place Kansas City Royals 10-1 on Friday night to add another game to their AL Central lead.

The Tigers (85-68), who now lead the division by 1 1/2 games, have forged their advantage by dominating head-to-head matchups. They are 12-5 against the Royals his season.

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“We just went out there and did what we’re capable of doing,” Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter said. “But there are no statements. Our intent is just to play the game.”

Justin Verlander (14-12) had all the support he needed by the end of the first inning, when the Tigers had shelled Vargas (11-10) for three runs on five hits. Detroit tacked on a run in the second, another in the fourth and then broke things open with a five-run fifth.

Lost amid the offensive onslaught was a fine performance by Verlander, who had struggled his last three times out. The 2011 Cy Young winner allowed one run on seven hits in 7 1/3 innings.

“He certainly seemed like he was up for this game,” Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. “It was there up there with one of the best games he’s had all season.”

Vargas allowed five runs on nine hits in 3 1-3, his shortest outing since April 16, 2013.

“It’s my responsibility to set the tone,” he said. “They were hitting good pitches and I was leaving pitches up in the zone. I just wasn’t able to put us in the right direction.”

Now, it’s up to the Royals to change course in a hurry.

“There’s no carry-over,” manager Ned Yost said. “They whipped us, they beat us, they spanked us, whatever you want to say. We’ll show up again tomorrow and be ready to play.”

Kansas City came into the weekend off a momentum-building win over the White Sox, and a day off Thursday allowed anticipation of the series to swell. Fans snatched up every last ticket, pounding the plastic “thundersticks” given away at the turnstiles as the Royals opened arguably their most important set of games since the 1985 World Series.

It took about 15 minutes for silence to grip the ballpark.

Kinsler led off the game with a single, and after Hunter flied out, the Tigers rapped out three straight hits to take the lead. Hunter got his hit the next inning, an RBI double, and James McCann became the last Detroit player in the starting lineup with a hit in the fourth.

His single and ensuing stolen base were the first of McCann’s career.

Royals relievers Casey Coleman and Louis Coleman could do little to stop the bleeding as the Tigers pounded out 15 hits by the fifth inning. And those fans that had packed “the K” to see the first act of a pennant-chase drama? Many were already streaming for the exits.

Kinsler paced the Tigers’ offense with three RBIs, and Eugenio Suarez added a pair. Everyone in the starting lineup but McCann, J.D. Martinez and Rajai Davis drove in a run.

That included 35-year-old Victor Martinez, whose run-scoring single in the first inning gave him 100 RBIs to go with 31 home runs. The only players older than him to become first-time members of the 30-100 club have been Carlton Fisk (1985) and Edgar Martinez (2000).

“It’s nice,” Martinez said, “but at the same time, I don’t look at those numbers. We’re in the middle of a race. That’s all that matters.”

BLOWOUTS AT THE K

Detroit has outscored Kansas City 60-21 in eight games at Kauffman Stadium this season. “We love the backdrop,” Hunter said. “We love the stadium.”

CHECK THE BOX SCORE

With the game out of reach early, both managers substituted liberally, giving their stars a chance to rest with a noon first pitch on Saturday. They combined to use 31 position players.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Tigers: C Alex Avila remains sidelined with concussion-like symptoms. He tried working out Friday but again felt dizzy. … RHP Anibal Sanchez (strained chest muscle) had no issues after a bullpen session Thursday. He plans to throw a simulated game Sunday.

Royals: LHP Tim Collins was recalled from Triple-A Omaha. The Royals considered bringing him back a few weeks ago, but Royals manager Ned Yost said a back injury kept him in the minors.

ON DECK

Tigers: RHP Max Scherzer (16-5) tries to beat Kansas City for the second time in less than two weeks. He allowed one run over 6 1/3 innings in a 4-2 victory on Sept. 9.

Royals: RHP James Shields (14-7) beat Detroit at Comerica Park the following day, tossing seven shutout innings. He only allowed two hits and a walk in that game.

— Associated Press —