Kansas City, Mo. ? Aaron Guiel was the only starter on either team without a hit. That didn’t stop him from winning the game.

Guiel capped a three-run Royal rally in the ninth Tuesday night with a sacrifice fly, driving in the winning run in Kansas City’s 9-8 victory over Detroit.

The win snapped a five-game losing skid for the Royals, who rallied from deficits of 5-0 and 7-4.

Guiel’s 0-for-5 performance while his teammates collected 17 singles didn’t bother him.

“There’s going to be lots of nights I don’t get a hit,” Guiel said. “Wins are kind of hard to come by for us this year.”

With the Royals trailing by two in the ninth, Abraham Nunez led off with his fourth single of the game. Ugueth Urbina (4-6) walked Calvin Pickering and gave up a bunt single to John Buck to load the bases.

Ruben Gotay followed with an RBI single, and Alexis Gomez grounded into a run-scoring fielder’s choice to tie it at 8.

Gomez hustled to first and barely avoided the double play.

“We needed a break and we got it,” said Jeremy Affeldt (3-3), who allowed a run on two hits in the ninth and got the win. “Gomez hustling that ball out to first base was so key.”

Guiel then lifted Urbina’s first pitch to center, and Buck slid home with the winning run.

Detroit's Dmitri Young, left, slides safely into home past the tag of Kansas City catcher John Buck. The Royals beat the Tigers, 9-8, Tuesday in Kansas City, Mo.

“I was a little scared because John Buck is not so fleet of foot,” said Guiel. “But it worked out.”

“We let this one slip away,” Detroit manager Alan Trammell said. “We had leads and we weren’t able to hold them.”

The Royals’ 17 singles without an extra-base hit tied a team record.

“We probably shot ourselves in the foot,” Trammell said. “When you give up that many hits and that many runs, you can’t expect to win too many games.”

Dmitri Young homered and drove in three runs, and Ivan Rodriguez went 4-for-4 for the Tigers, who have lost five of their last six.

Young hit an RBI single in the first inning, and Craig Monroe also had a run-scoring single to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.

Marcus Thames doubled leading off the second and scored on Nook Logan’s single. Carlos Guillen had an RBI single and Rodriguez’s RBI double made it 5-0.

The Royals loaded the bases against starter Jason Johnson in the second on two singles and a walk. Buck followed with a two-run single, then Gotay laid down a perfect bunt to load the bases again. Johnson got Gomez to fly out and fanned Guiel before Desi Relaford, who had three hits, hit a two-run single to right — cutting the deficit to 5-4.

With two outs in the fourth, Brian Anderson walked Rodriguez and had an 0-2 count on Young when the Tigers’ designated hitter hit his 11th home run to give Detroit a 7-4 lead.

The Royals scored a run on Buck’s double-play grounder in the sixth and then loaded the bases with no outs against reliever Jamie Walker in the seventh. But they got only one run on an RBI single by Nunez against reliever Esteban Yan.

Anderson allowed seven runs and 10 hits in five innings.

Notes: RHP Runelvys Hernandez threw for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery. The Royals hope Hernandez, who was 4-0 in April 2003 before getting hurt, is ready for spring training. … The Royals also had 17 singles without an extra-base hit in a 16-12 victory Aug. 6, 1979 at Toronto.