KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Alex Gordon's ninth-inning fly to center field was not deep, but it was deep enough to score Brandon Moss with a walk-off sacrifice fly.

Moss, who homered earlier, doubled home the tying run in the ninth inning and scored the winning run as the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday.

Moss doubled off Justin Wilson (3-4) to score Alcides Escobar, who had walked on four pitches. Moss went to third on the throw home and scored on Gordon's sacrifice fly. It was Gordon's sixth career walk-off RBI.

"I'm not the fastest person, but I was going to give everything I had," Moss said. "He was going to have to throw me out."

Center fielder Mikie Mahtook's throw home was up the third base line, allowing Moss to score.

As a horde of media surrounded Moss' cubicle, he had an opening salutation.

"This is really nice to talk to you (something) about other than sucking," said Moss, who entered the game hitless in his previous nine at-bats to drop his average to .188.

Kevin McCarthy (1-0), the sixth Kansas City pitcher, picked up the victory.

Mahtook hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth to give the Tigers a 3-2 lead. Mahtook went deep to center on a 1-2 Kelvin Herrera pitch with pinch runner Andrew Romine aboard. Herrera blew a save for the third time in 22 opportunities.

"Unfortunately they came back and scored two and took the game away from us," Mahtook said.

Herrera, who was running a 102-degree temperature with a sore throat Tuesday and unavailable, was led off the mound by trainer Nick Kenney after giving up the homer. Herrera said the heat and humidity got to him.

"I felt worn out, no energy," Herrera said.

Wilson slipped to 10-for-12 in save chances.

"I can't walk Escobar there, especially after the first-pitch out on (Mike) Moustakas," Wilson said. "The walk killed me. If Moss doubles without the walk, I get Escobar out, then I get a two-out popup to end it. I just didn't pitch well enough."

The Royals took a 2-1 lead in the seventh, which Salvador Perez led off with a rare triple. He scored on a Moustakas single.

Perez got his first triple since May 23, 2016, when his liner to left field rolled past a diving Justin Upton. By the time Upton retrieved the ball and got it back to the infield, the plodding Perez was sliding into third base.

Justin Verlander fell behind in the count 3-0 to Moustakas, who got the green light and scorched a run-producing single to center.

Verlander was removed after seven innings and 107 pitches. He allowed two runs on six hits while striking out eight and walking one.

"Pretty good," Verlander said of his outing. "I've been kind of searching and searching most of this year for some consistency. I've been looking at film, compared some film between this start and the last one and felt like I found something."

The Royals threatened in the sixth, which Whit Merrifield started with a line-drive single to center. Merrifield was out at second on Jorge Bonifacio's fielder's choice grounder to third baseman Nicholas Castellanos. Lorenzo Cain then worked a full-count walk -- his 37th of the season, equaling his season high set in 2015.

However, Verlander quickly snuffed out the Royals' scoring bid. Eric Hosmer flied out to left field on the first pitch. Then with Perez at the plate, Verlander picked the rookie Bonifacio off at second base.

Jason Hammel more than matched Verlander, allowing one run, four singles and one walk over 6 1/3 innings. He was removed in the seventh after walking Victor Martinez on his 97th pitch. He gave up two hits after the first inning.

Left-hander Scott Alexander replaced Hammel and struck out pinch hitter Mahtook on three pitches. After Alex Presley's single, Peter Moylan was brought in to face Jose Iglesias. Moylan retired him on a ground ball on five pitches.

Hammel, who had allowed only one earned run in the first inning of his first 18 starts, yielded a run in the opening stanza.

Ian Kinsler singled leading off, his sixth hit in his 12th at-bat in the series. Upton's one-out single to center moved Kinsler to third, and the run scored on Miguel Cabrera's slow roller to second baseman Merrifield.

That was one more run the Tigers managed for Verlander in his previous start at Kansas City, a 1-0 loss on May 30. Verlander allowed one run on six hits over seven innings in that defeat.

The Royals tied it in the third when Moss homered on an 0-1 Verlander pitch into the right field seats. Nine of Moss' 11 home runs are with the bases empty, and he has just 17 RBIs. It was his first home run since July 1 and his third career homer off Verlander.

After giving up two hits in the first, Hammel retired 16 of the next 17 batters he faced before Upton's two-out single in the sixth.

NOTES: The Tigers recalled OF Jim Adduci from Triple-A Toledo to replace traded OF J.D. Martinez. Adduci arrived shortly before game time and started in right, going 0-for-2. ... The heat index for the first pitch was 101. ... Tigers RHP Justin Verlander struck out eight to move his career total to 3,308 and five past Hall of Famer Juan Marichal and into 50th place on the all-time strikeout list. ... Tigers RHP Michael Fulmer and Royals LHP Danny Duffy are the probables for the series finale Thursday.