DETROIT (Interstat) — Michael Massey’s two-run homer in the eighth inning lifted the Kansas City Royals to a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Comerica Park.

The Royals, who entered the day having lost two of the first three games of this four-game series, secured a split and improved to 45-62. The Tigers fell to 50-56.

Massey’s blast, his eighth of the season, came off Tigers reliever Drew Sommers with one out in the top of the eighth. Isaac Collins had singled earlier in the inning, setting the stage for Massey, who was pinch-hitting before taking over at second base. The home run erased a 4-3 deficit and gave Kansas City its first lead since the fourth inning.

Lane Thomas had opened the game with a leadoff home run, his 10th, on a fly ball to right field in the first inning. The Royals added another run in the frame on a fielding error by Tigers second baseman Hao-Yu Lee that allowed Nick Loftin to score, making it 2-0.

Kansas City extended its lead in the fourth inning. Tyler Tolbert walked, advanced on a double by Luke Maile and scored on the play, giving the Royals a 3-0 advantage.

The Tigers mounted their comeback in the fifth inning. Hao-Yu Lee led off with a double, and Colt Keith walked. Kevin McGonigle singled to load the bases. Gleyber Torres struck out, but Riley Greene reached on a fielder’s choice that was mishandled by Royals second baseman Andrew Velazquez, allowing two runs to score. Dillon Dingler followed with a two-run single to center, putting Detroit ahead 4-3.

The Tigers collected eight hits in the game, while the Royals managed six. Detroit’s starting pitcher Framber Valdez worked five innings, allowing four hits and two earned runs with four strikeouts. He left with the game tied after the top of the fifth, but the Tigers had taken the lead in the bottom half.

Kansas City’s bullpen held Detroit scoreless over the final four innings. John Schreiber, Lucas Erceg and Nate Pearson each tossed a scoreless inning, with Pearson earning the win to improve to 2-0. Steven Cruz closed the ninth for his second save, allowing a hit and a walk but striking out two, including Riley Greene to end the game.

The Royals’ victory came after a series of close contests between the two clubs. In the previous three games of this set, the Tigers won 2-1 on Friday and 4-3 on Thursday, while the Royals won 3-2 on Saturday. The teams have now met nine times this season, with Detroit holding a 5-4 edge.

Kansas City’s offense, which had struggled in recent weeks, received contributions beyond Massey and Thomas. Collins went 1 for 3 with a walk and scored the go-ahead run on Massey’s homer. Maile doubled and drove in a run.

Detroit’s Dillon Dingler had two hits, including the two-run single. Kevin McGonigle also had two hits and scored a run. Hao-Yu Lee doubled and scored.

The Tigers’ bullpen, which had been effective for much of the series, could not hold the lead. Sommers, making his second appearance of the season, took the loss and fell to 0-1. Ty Madden pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Brenan Hanifee worked a scoreless ninth for the Tigers.

The game was played in 3 hours, 3 minutes before an announced crowd of 29,489.

Kansas City now heads to Minnesota for a three-game series against the Twins, while Detroit returns home to host Baltimore.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Detroit 6, Kansas City 5, and its ELO system gave the Tigers a 59.40 percent probability to win. Detroit had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5.