Detroit ? To beat Zack Greinke, the Detroit Tigers needed one of their most unlikely home runs in years.

Will Rhymes hit his first major-league homer, and Alex Avila drove in three runs and made a spectacular defensive play to lead Detroit past the Kansas City Royals, 7-5, Monday night.

With two outs in the sixth inning and Kansas City leading, 5-4, Rhymes, a rookie generously listed at 5-foot-9, hit a two-run shot off Greinke to put the Tigers ahead. It was only the second home run allowed by the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner in his last eight starts.

Rhymes had to wait a few minutes before he could enjoy it, because first-base umpire Jerry Meals originally ruled that the ball hit the top of the fence. It appeared Rhymes had a game-tying triple until replays showed the ball hit the bottom of a safety railing above the wall. Umpires went inside for a look and reversed the call.

“I got to enjoy that home run a lot longer than most people. That was the longest home run jog ever,” Rhymes said. “We had been looking in the dugout, and they said it was a home run, but you never know.”

Royals right fielder Mitch Maier, who missed catching the ball by a couple of inches, was sure the review would go against his team.

“I knew the ball hit the railing, not the yellow line on top of the fence, so when they went in to look at it, I knew what the decision would be,” he said. “That’s a catch you dream about — robbing someone of a homer — but I just couldn’t get high enough.”

After the game, Rhymes found a bottle of champagne in his locker, courtesy of teammate Brandon Inge.

“We’re thrilled for him,” Tigers manager Jim Leyland said.

Avila finished the scoring with a solo homer in the eighth.