DETROIT (AP) – The Kansas City Royals celebrated as if they had won a game.

They cheered Wednesday morning when their scheduled game against the Detroit Tigers was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made in a day-night doubleheader on April 20.

“It’s perfect news,” Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar said. “It’s not easy to play in this weather. Everybody saw what happened in the last game.”

With a postponement looming as a possibility, Kansas City breezed to its first victory of the season on a chilly, rainy Tuesday. The Royals beat the Tigers 1-0 in 2 hours, 17 minutes.

“It’s really hard for the hitters,” Escobar said. “The ball doesn’t go anywhere even if it you hit it hard. Nobody wants to play like that.”

“The teams in the AL Central they should start on the West or South side where it is hot.”

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — With another postponement looming as a possibility, Jakob Junis and the Kansas City Royals breezed to their first victory of the season.

Junis took a shutout into the eighth inning, and the Royals beat the Detroit Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday. On a chilly, rainy day — with snow a possibility on Wednesday — Kansas City and Detroit played nine innings in 2 hours, 17 minutes.

The Royals were the last team in the American League to earn their first win. They already had one game called off because of the weather, on Sunday at home against the White Sox. This one had the potential to be dicey, but although some light rain had fans leaving the lower bowl of seats in the third inning, there were no delays.

“At the beginning, the wind was blowing right in my face, but that kind of helped me out a little bit, to get some more movement on my pitches,” Junis said. “Later in the game it still wasn’t great, but at least the wind had died down a little bit. I pitched in a lot of that type of stuff back in high school, being from Illinois.”

The temperature at game time was 40 degrees.

“Those conditions out there are miserable for everybody,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “When it’s misty like that it helps you a little bit, because you get a little bit of moisture on your fingers. When it’s super ice cold, the ball feels like you’re throwing an ice cube.”

Jorge Soler, who still doesn’t have a major league hit since July 2, drove in the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly in the second.

Junis (1-0) allowed three hits in seven-plus innings . The 25-year-old right-hander walked one and struck out six before being lifted following Mikie Mahtook’s leadoff single in the eighth.

Justin Grimm finished the inning, and Kelvin Herrera struck out two in a perfect ninth for his first save.

Matthew Boyd (0-1) was sharp for the Tigers, allowing a run and four hits in six innings. A native of Mercer Island, Washington, Boyd said he, too, has some experience with conditions like this.

“I think I had an advantage, because I grew up pitching in weather like this,” he said. “In my opinion, it is much easier to pitch in this weather than to hit in it.”

The only run came after Cheslor Cuthbert led off the second and let go of the bat while swinging. The result was a flare that dropped over first baseman Miguel Cabrera and bounced down the line. By the time Cabrera retrieved the ball, Cuthbert had a double. He went to third on a flyout and scored on Soler’s flyball.

Soler went 0 for 2 and is hitless in his last 31 at-bats in the majors.

Cabrera struck out with two on in the third, and the Tigers missed a scoring chance in the fourth when James McCann hit what looked at first like a clean line drive up the middle. Second baseman Whit Merrifield was shifted over, however, and made the diving catch — then doubled Nicholas Castellanos off first .

SMOOTH

Detroit SS Jose Iglesias made a diving stop on Cuthbert’s grounder in the ninth, the start of a nifty 6-4-3 double play that helped the Tigers stay within a run.

“That’s a great play, especially in this weather,” manager Ron Gardenhire said. “It’s wet, so the ball is skipping on you, and then you’ve got to make a toss without a dry grip.”

ZIMMER’S STATUS

The Royals requested unconditional release waivers on RHP Kyle Zimmer, who was designated for assignment March 29.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 1B Lucas Duda sat out after leaving Monday’s game with right hamstring tightness.

Tigers: Gardenhire said RHP Mike Fiers (lumbar strain) felt good after throwing around 80 pitches Monday at the team’s spring training facility in Florida.

UP NEXT

Detroit’s Daniel Norris faces Kansas City’s Danny Duffy (0-1) on Wednesday, weather permitting.

— Associated Press —

DETROIT (AP) — Ron Gardenhire’s first win with the Detroit Tigers came courtesy of a couple other grizzled veterans.

Francisco Liriano pitched into the seventh inning in his Detroit debut and Victor Martinez drove in three runs to give the Tigers a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on a chilly Monday.

Gardenhire won 1,068 games as Minnesota’s manager from 2002-14. This is his first year at the helm in Detroit.

“I know what this city’s all about, I know what this team’s all about, so I’m very proud to be a part of it,” Gardenhire said. “Now I’m in their history books. I got one win.”

The temperature was in the mid-30s at Comerica Park for a matchup between the last two winless teams in the American League. Some fans came dressed in Michigan winter gear — the Wolverines played Villanova hours later in the NCAA men’s basketball championship game.

Liriano (1-0) allowed a run and four hits in 6 2/3 innings. The 34-year-old lefty, signed as a free agent in February, struck out three and walked two while throwing 94 pitches.

The Tigers scored four runs in the fifth, with Martinez delivering a two-run single off Jason Hammel (0-1).

“The third time through the order, they started finding holes,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “We had them played right and he was making decent pitches, but it didn’t work out.”

Kansas City took a 1-0 lead in the third on a sacrifice fly by Drew Butera, but Detroit tied it in the bottom half on an RBI single by Miguel Cabrera.

The Tigers broke open the game in the fifth. With one out, Leonys Martin singled and Jeimer Candelario doubled. After an intentional walk to Cabrera loaded the bases, Nicholas Castellanos hit a soft line drive to left for a run-scoring single.

Then Martinez added his two-run single , and James McCann’s grounder brought Castellanos home and made it 5-1.

Martinez added a sacrifice fly in the seventh.

Hammel allowed five runs and seven hits in five innings. He had the second-lowest run support among qualifying AL pitchers last season, and this game was more of the same.

“This was a maddening game,” Hammel said. “We had a good game plan, we executed it and I felt great out there, but we come out of it with a loss. It’s frustrating.”

Detroit lost its season opener Friday after the Tigers had the winning run taken away by a replay review against Pittsburgh. On Monday, they initially appeared to have turned a game-ending double play, but that was also overturned by a review. Detroit was nonetheless able to close out the victory without incident.

BATTLING THE ELEMENTS

The temperature at game time was 36 degrees, but Liriano didn’t seem too bothered.

“I missed a couple pitches because of that. Was hard for me to get a good grip on the ball, and kind of slippery,” Liriano said. “You have to find a way to stay warm and have some good grip on the ball.”

QUIET OFFENSE

Kansas City managed only five hits on the day. Designated hitter Jorge Soler went 0 for 3 and is now hitless in his last 29 at-bats in the majors. His most recent big league hit came July 2.

ROYALS ROSTER

The Royals claimed outfielder Abraham Almonte off waivers from Cleveland. The 28-year-old hit .233 with three homers and 14 RBI in 69 games last season. The switch-hitter, who has also played for Seattle and San Diego, was sent to Triple-A Omaha. Kansas City designated right-handed pitcher Miguel Almonte for assignment.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Royals: 1B Lucas Duda left the game in the seventh with right hamstring tightness.

Tigers: OF Victor Reyes, who left Sunday night’s game against Pittsburgh with a lacerated forearm, did not play Monday.

UP NEXT

Detroit LHP Matthew Boyd (6-11, 5.27 ERA last year) takes the mound Tuesday against Royals RHP Jakob Junis (9-3, 4.30). Boyd went 4-0 with a 3.42 ERA in spring training.

— Associated Press —