Detroit — Judging by social media reaction, the exhibition football game next door wasn’t a thing of beauty.
The news was much better next door.
Travis Demeritte's first major league home run tied the score at 8 in the seventh inning, and Demeritte led off the ninth with a walk and came home on Jordy Mercer's sixth home run of the season, a two-run blast to right field, giving the Tigers a dramatic 10-8 victory over the Kansas City Royals.
Demeritte walked, moved to second on Jake Rogers' bunt, and Mercer ended the evening with a blast off Royals reliever Richard Lovelady, sending the crowd of 17,197 home happy.