Kansas City Royals manager Trey Hillman, right, argues with home-plate umpire Paul Emmel during the eighth inning. The argument got Hillman tossed from the Royals’ 13-1 loss to the Tigers on Monday at Kauffman Stadium.

Kansas City, Mo. ? The way Justin Verlander has been pitching lately, he didn’t need the Detroit Tigers’ big offensive day.

Verlander pitched seven shutout innings, and the Tigers banged out a season-high 19 hits in a 13-1 victory over the slumping Kansas City Royals on Monday.

Miguel Cabrera had three RBIs and four hits, and Gerald Laird, Brandon Inge and Clete Thomas each had two RBIs as the Tigers won for the 23rd time in their last 31 outings at Kauffman Stadium.

Verlander (5-2), who improved to 5-0 with a 0.85 earned-run average in his last six starts, retired the first nine batters and gave up only five singles and did not allow a runner past second. He did not issue a walk and struck out eight, taking over the major-league lead with 85.

“He’s one of those guys, if he’s on his game, it’s not fun,” said Laird, who had a two-run home run. “He’s throwing 95 to 98 (mph), he’s got a sharp breaking ball and a plus-changeup you’ve got to cover. This guy’s locating his stuff, and he’s pitching ahead in the count.”

Verlander agreed that his recent stretch is as good as he has had since breaking into the majors in 2006 as the AL rookie of the year.

It certainly is a far cry from his 11-17 record of last season.

“I feel like last year was a big learning curve for me,” he said. “After last year, not having my stuff, I was able to pitch a little better and get outs without my best stuff. After this spring, working hard and getting my stuff back, putting those two things together made me a better pitcher.”

Verlander improved to 5-1 with a 1.16 ERA in seven starts at Kauffman.

Detroit’s 19 hits and 13 runs were season-highs allowed by the Royals, who were leading the AL in pitching but fell four games behind the Tigers in the AL Central.

“It’s been a bad day at work,” said Royals manager Trey Hillman, who was ejected in the eighth by home-plate umpire Paul Emmel.

It was the 12th loss in 16 games for the Royals, who have scored only four runs in their last 42 innings.

“We didn’t pitch well. We didn’t hit well,” Hillman said. “Verlander is very good, but we’ve got to make better adjustments.”

The only excitement for the holiday crowd of 34,524 came in the eighth when Emmel made Hillman the first Royals’ ejection of the year. Hillman came out and argued after Willie Bloomquist was called out on strikes in the eighth.

“I told him the ball was low,” Bloomquist said. “He said it wasn’t. I told him the ball was low. He said not to say another word, and I told him the ball was low.”

The Tigers jumped on Gil Meche (2-5) for four runs — two earned — in 21?3 innings on six hits and three walks.