DETROIT — The Tigers are bingeing on the home cooking so far this year.

They played a near-flawless baseball game Friday night, beating the Kansas City Royals 7-3 and winning for the seventh time in eight games at Comerica Park.

The last time they started this good at home? You have to go back to 1993 when Sparky Anderson was writing Cecil Fielder, Travis Fryman Mickey Tettleton, Rob Deer and Tony Phillips on his lineup card along with Alan Trammell, Lou Whitaker and Kirk Gibson.

The Central Division-leading Tigers (12-8) have now won five straight against the Royals dating to last season, something they haven’t done since 2023.

Rookie right-hander Jackson Jobe posted his second straight strong start, striking out five and allowing only a first-inning run in five innings.

Bobby Witt, Jr., and Vinnie Pasquantino ripped back-to-back doubles in the first but Jobe stayed poised and minimized damage by punching out Michael Massey to strand Pasquantino at third base.

Catcher Tomas Nido started opening up Jobe’s arsenal from the second inning on, bringing the curveball into play against the left-handed hitters along with change-ups and 97-mph four-seam fastballs.

Against the Royals right-handed hitters, Jobe complemented his sliders and four-seamers with biting 97-mph sinkers.

Jobe allowed only three singles after the first inning.

Relievers Brenan Hanifee, Tyler Holton, Will Vest and John Brebbia hung zeros until the ninth. Kenta Maeda entered with the six-run lead and couldn't get through the inning.

Vinnie Pasquantino ripped an RBI single and Maeda left with the bases loaded one out. Tommy Kahnle, who worked two innings Thursday night,

On the offensive side of things, the Tigers continue to string together quality at-bats and drain pitchers’ patience and pitch-count allotments. They did it to one of the best lefties in the game on Friday.

Royals’ All-Star Cole Ragans got his strikeouts, for sure. But he had to grind for them.

Tigers’ manager AJ Hinch interspersed his batting order with three left-handed hitters, which seemed curious until he explained it.

“Just trying to give Ragans as many different looks as we can,” Hinch said before the game. “Three lefties, six righties, they have three lefties in their pen, as well.

“Give him lefties and righties and not let him fall into a pattern of nasty change-ups to all righties or fastballs and sliders to all lefties.”

Hinch was also aware that Ragans had reverse splits last season, meaning lefties hit him better (.723 OPS) than righties (.594).

Whether it was lefty Riley Greene seeing 15 pitches in his first two at-bats and then knocking Ragans out of the game in the fifth with an RBI single to right, or whether it was righty Nido delivering a two-out RBI single after Spencer Torkelson had worked a walk and alertly took second on a ball in the dirt, or whether it was righty Andy Ibanez, after flailing badly in a first-inning strikeout, clubbing a 96-mph heater into the Tigers bullpen to lead off the fourth — the lineup clicked.

Ragans, who had eight strikeouts, didn’t get an out in what ended up being a three-run fifth inning — a rally started by a walk to Justyn-Henry Malloy. He was at 81 pitches after the fourth and at 96 when he was lifted.

Greene extended the seventh inning, too. With two outs, he hit a screamer up the middle. The ball left his bat at 109 mph and it caromed off reliever Lucas Erceg’s right ankle.

It ended up being Greene’s second hit of the game and Erceg, one of the Royals’ leverage relievers, had to be helped off the field.

Trey Sweeney followed with another infield hit and Torkelson cashed both runners with a double into the left field corner.

The Tigers ended up with 12 hits (three by Nido) and saw 162 pitches.

Casey Mize will duel with Royals' Seth Lugo Saturday afternoon (1:10 p.m.) in game three of this series.

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