DETROIT (Interstat) — Dillon Dingler’s RBI double in the eighth inning broke a tie and lifted the Detroit Tigers to a 4-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday night at Comerica Park.

The Tigers overcame a two-run deficit with a three-run seventh inning, then held on after the Royals tied the game in the top of the eighth. Detroit improved to 49-54, while Kansas City fell to 43-61.

Attendance was 35,548 for the series opener, which lasted 2:46.

Kansas City took a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning. Isaac Collins hit a two-run homer off Tigers starter Troy Melton, driving in Michael Massey, who had singled. The Royals added another run in the eighth to tie the game, but the Tigers answered immediately.

Drew Anderson (4-4) earned the win with one inning of relief, allowing two hits and one earned run with one strikeout. Steven Cruz (2-3) took the loss, giving up the go-ahead run in the eighth. Kyle Finnegan recorded his second save of the season, getting the final two outs in the ninth.

The game was scoreless through five innings as both starting pitchers kept the opposing lineups off balance. Kansas City’s Randy Dobnak worked five scoreless innings, scattering three hits while striking out two and walking one. Melton also went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

The Royals broke through in the sixth. Massey led off with a single to right field, and Collins followed by crushing a 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall for his sixth homer of the season. The long ball gave Kansas City a 2-0 lead and silenced the Comerica Park crowd.

Detroit answered in the bottom of the seventh against the Kansas City bullpen. Reliever Will Klein entered and immediately ran into trouble. Dingler singled to right to start the inning, and Kerry Carpenter followed with a single that moved Dingler to third. After Spencer Torkelson struck out and Zach McKinstry lined out, James Outman stepped to the plate and delivered the biggest hit of the night.

Outman launched a three-run homer to right-center field, his fourth of the season, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 Tigers lead. The blast came on a 2-2 pitch and sent the crowd into a frenzy.

The Royals tied the game in the top of the eighth against Anderson. Massey singled to lead off, and after Collins bunted into a lineout, Josh Rojas singled to center, scoring Tyler Tolbert, who had entered the game earlier as a pinch runner. The hit made it 3-3, but the Royals could not add more.

Detroit wasted no time reclaiming the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Cruz, who had entered to pitch the inning, faced Gleyber Torres first. Torres struck out, but Hao-Yu Lee singled to center. Riley Greene grounded out, moving Lee to second. Dingler then stepped up and laced a sharp ground-ball double down the left-field line, scoring Lee to give Detroit a 4-3 advantage.

The Tigers had a chance to add more when Carpenter reached on a fielding error by first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino, putting runners on first and third with two outs. But Torkelson popped out to end the inning.

Finnegan came on to close the game in the ninth. He retired Carter Jensen on a foul-tip strikeout, walked Lane Thomas, then got Pasquantino to single, putting runners on first and second. Salvador Perez then grounded into a double play, with Torkelson fielding the grounder and stepping on first before throwing to shortstop Kevin McGonigle, who relayed to Finnegan covering second to complete the game-ending twin killing.

Offensively, Dingler led the way for Detroit, going 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and the game-winning RBI. Outman’s homer was the other key hit. Carpenter, Riley Greene and McGonigle each had one hit. Zach McKinstry also singled. Torkelson went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.

For Kansas City, Massey had two hits, including a single and a run scored. Collins homered and drove in two runs. Rojas added two hits and an RBI. Carter Jensen walked twice and doubled. Pasquantino singled twice and drew a walk. The Royals stranded eight runners and struck out 10 times.

The game marked the first meeting between the teams since May, when Detroit took two of three at Kauffman Stadium. The series continues Friday through Sunday at Comerica Park before the Tigers host Baltimore on Monday and Kansas City travels to Minnesota.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Detroit 5, Kansas City 4, and Interstat’s ELO system had projected Detroit with a 58.80 percent probability to win. Detroit had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5. The total score of 7 went over the over-under line of 8.