KANSAS CITY (Interstat) — Gage Workman, called up from Triple-A Toledo earlier in the day, crushed a two-run homer in the sixth inning to lift the Detroit Tigers to a 6-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Sunday night at Kauffman Stadium, snapping a five-game losing streak and avoiding a three-game sweep.

The Tigers, who entered the day with a 19-22 record, tied with the Royals at 19-22, used a dominant relief effort to hold Kansas City scoreless over the final five innings. Enmanuel De Jesus earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief, striking out one, and Kenley Jansen worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save.

Detroit jumped out to an early lead with a three-run second inning. Hao-Yu Lee tripled to right field, scoring Wenceel Pérez, and Matt Vierling followed with a two-run double that also scored Zack Short. Vierling advanced to third on a fielding error by center fielder Kyle Isbel, but the inning ended when Kevin McGonigle grounded out.

Kansas City responded in the third. Maikel Garcia doubled, Bobby Witt Jr. singled, and Vinnie Pasquantino drove in Garcia with a single. Witt scored on a sacrifice fly by Carter Jensen, cutting the Detroit lead to 3-2.

The Royals tied the game in the fourth when Jac Caglianone doubled and scored on a single by Garcia, making it 3-3.

Detroit answered in the sixth. Spencer Torkelson led off with a single and Gage Workman, batting as a pinch hitter for Zach McKinstry, launched his first major league homer to right field, giving the Tigers a 5-3 lead. Workman finished 1-for-2.

The Tigers added an insurance run in the seventh. Riley Greene doubled and scored on a single by Wenceel Pérez, making it 6-3.

Detroit’s bullpen shut down the Royals from the fifth inning on. Starter Drew Anderson lasted only 2 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Brant Hurter contributed 1 1/3 hitless innings with a strikeout, Kyle Finnegan worked 1 2/3 innings allowing one hit, and De Jesus took over in the sixth to earn the win.

Kansas City starter Noah Cameron allowed three earned runs on five hits over four innings, striking out four. Nick Mears, who took the loss, allowed Workman’s homer in the sixth.

The Royals had opportunities late. In the eighth, Pasquantino singled, but Isaac Collins grounded into a force out and Carter Jensen walked before Michael Massey grounded into a double play to end the threat. Jansen struck out the side in the ninth, fanning Starling Marte and Lane Thomas after getting Caglianone to pop out.

Detroit finished with 10 hits, paced by Riley Greene, who reached base four times with a double, a single and two walks. Maikel Garcia led Kansas City with three hits, including a double and an RBI.

The game lasted 2 hours, 58 minutes with an announced attendance of 17,295.

Detroit had lost five straight entering the contest, including the first two games of this series and three consecutive at home against Boston. The Tigers won for just the fourth time in their last 11 games overall.

Kansas City, which had won its previous two games, dropped to 19-22, tied with the Tigers for third place in the American League Central. The Royals had taken three of four from Detroit before Sunday’s loss.

The Tigers travel to New York for a three-game series against the Mets beginning Tuesday, while the Royals open a three-game set at Chicago against the White Sox also on Tuesday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Kansas City 6, Detroit 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Kansas City a 53.30 percent probability to win. The Royals had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of nine runs went under the over-under line of eight.