Kansas City, Mo. ? Raul Ibanez never had a chance to hit for the cycle.

Needing only a single, Ibanez was intentionally walked with first base open in the seventh inning of the Kansas City Royals’ 8-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

	When: 7:05 tonight.Where: Kauffman Stadium.Television: None.Pitchers: Darrell May (2-4) vs. Adam Bernero (2-2).KC record: 27-46.

Tigers manager Luis Pujols said earlier this week that he would have intentionally walked Florida’s Luis Castillo in the ninth inning Saturday with Castillo’s 35-game hitting streak on the line.

Pujols didn’t let Ibanez go for history either, even though the crowd booed his decision.

“I have to do what I have to do,” Pujols said. “I’m not trying to work in PR. That was the right move. I have to put him on. He’s a left-handed hitter. He’s swinging the bat good. I don’t worry about that (fans reaction).”

Ibanez matched his career high with four RBIs for the second time in three games to help the Royals rally from a four-run deficit in the first game involving two Dominican managers.

There was a festive pregame ceremony honoring Pujols and Kansas City’s Tony Pena, with Dominican President Hipolito Mejia and baseball commissioner Bud Selig.

The game drew about 35 Dominican media representatives and was televised throughout much of Latin America. In pregame ceremonies, children held up large flags of each country and each country’s national anthem was sung. Selig tossed out the first pitch to Pujols at the same time Mejia threw to Pena.

“You get the big shark from our country, the No. 1 guy. And you get the No. 1 guy in baseball in the same game,” Pujols said. “This is huge.”

Pena and Pujols took over as first-time managers after the start of the season. Felipe Alou, Detroit’s bench coach, was the only other Dominican manager when he was at Montreal.

“Today we’re making history in baseball,” Pena said. “This means a lot for us. It means a lot for Latin Americans. We have a dream and we see that dream come true.”

Ibanez homered with Joe Randa aboard in the fifth off reliever Julio Santana (3-2) to break a 5-5 tie. Ibanez also drove in four runs Saturday against the New York Mets and has 16 RBIs in his past 13 games.

“Raul has been swinging the bat real well lately,” Pena said. “I just hope he continues to swing a hot bat.”

Kansas City’s Mike Sweeney went 3-for-4 with a home run and two doubles to raise his batting average to .358.