Royals 2, Tigers 1: Omar Infante went 2-for-4 with a homer to continue his stellar series and Jeremy Guthrie pitched 6 2/3 strong innings as visiting Kansas City edged Detroit to record its 10th consecutive victory.

Alex Gordon added a run-scoring single as the Royals defeated the Tigers for the third straight day. Kansas City leads Detroit by 1 1/2 games in the American League Central and the 10-game streak is the franchise’s longest since winning 14 in a row in 1994.

Guthrie (4-6) matched his season high of nine strikeouts and gave up one run and four hits before departing. Wade Davis struck out the side in the eighth and Greg Holland worked around a lead single to Miguel Cabrera in the ninth to record his AL-leading 21st save.

Guthrie allowed only two hits through six innings before tiring in the seventh. J.D. Martinez hit a one-out homer inside the foul pole in left to get Detroit on the board and Nick Castellanos doubled off the left-field fence with two out before Kelvin Herrera retired Don Kelly on a fly to center.

Eric Hosmer singled and stole second in the first for Kansas City and scored when Gordon’s bouncer up the middle caromed off the second-base bag and into shallow right-center field. Infante hit a two-out homer in the fifth off Drew Smyly (3-6), who allowed two runs and seven hits in seven-plus innings.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Infante is 5-for-12 with two homers and eight RBIs in the first three contests of the four-game set against his former teammates. … Tigers RF Torii Hunter (hamstring) missed his second straight game and will also sit out Thursday’s finale. … Kansas City RF Norichika Aoki (leg) sat out after departing with an injury in Tuesday’s game.