Detroit ? The Detroit Tigers ended their offensive struggles Sunday.

Placido Polanco had four hits, including a home run, to power an 18-hit effort that carried Detroit to a 14-4 victory over the Kansas City Royals.

Polanco scored four runs and drove in two for Detroit, which won its second straight after a nine-game losing streak. Brandon Inge and Chris Shelton also homered for the Tigers, who broke open a tie game with four runs in the fifth. The 18 hits tied a season high for Detroit.

“We broke out today. It’s been awhile,” Tigers manager Alan Trammell said.

Polanco, who had four hits for the second consecutive game, was involved in every inning in which Detroit scored.

“The balls have just been falling in,” he said. “Sometimes you hit ’em and they get caught.”

Polanco was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies on June 8.

“I think he’s the brightest thing to happen to us this season,” Trammell said. “He’s a big piece of the puzzle.”

Detroit starter Jason Johnson (8-12) gave up three runs and eight hits in five innings, not walking a batter and striking out four. He came out of the game because of a strain under his right arm.

Detroit's Brandon Inge, right, and Placido Polanco celebrate Inge's two-run homer in the fifth inning of the Tigers' 14-4 victory. The Tigers busted out offensively Sunday in Detroit.

Johnson said it bothered him the entire game and was aggravated when he fielded a bunt by Chip Ambres in the third inning.

“Trammell and (pitching coach Bob) Cluck told me after the third that they were going to take me out,” Johnson said. “And I said, ‘I don’t want to come out.”‘

Kansas City’s Jose Lima (5-15) allowed five runs and seven hits in four-plus innings. He walked two and struck out one.

Inge’s two-run homer in the fifth broke a 3-all tie and finished Lima.

“Major-league hitters : you make mistakes, and they make you pay,” Lima said.

Notes: Shelton’s homer was his first since Aug. 19. … Lima has allowed 28 home runs this season in 29 games.