KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- On a night when the Detroit Tigers should have celebrated after blasting a season-high six home runs, there was more solitude than laughter.

Victor Martinez hit three home runs and Miguel Cabrera had a two-run go-ahead shot in the seventh inning as the Tigers belted a season-high six homers to top the Kansas City Royals 10-4 on Thursday night.

It was a costly victory, however, as right fielder J.D. Martinez fractured his right elbow in the second inning and will be out 4-to-6 weeks. Steven Moya was recalled from Triple-A Toledo to take his roster place.

"We'd much rather have J.D. healthy and in the lineup, but he's not," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "So we need Steven to pick up the slack, and everybody else to pick up the slack."

J.D. Martinez is hitting .286 with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs. He took a seven-game hitting streak into the Thursday game and had nine multiple-hit contests in his past 13.

It was Victor Martinez's second career three-homer game. His first was July, 16, 2004 at Seattle while with Cleveland. Martinez's first two homers were off left-hander Danny Duffy and in the ninth went deep off Chien-Ming Wang.

"Definitely, I felt pretty good, but the most important thing was to put together a good game like that," said Victor Martinez, who was the lineup for the first time since Sunday after receiving a cortisone shot for his bulky right knee.

Justin Verlander (8-6) worked seven innings to pick up the victory and is 5-2 in his last seven starts. He allowed four runs on eight hits, while striking out seven, walking one and hitting two batters.

The loss snapped the Royals' five-game winning streak and their nine-game home streak.

Cabrera homered with Julio Iglesias aboard off Luke Hochevar (1-1) with two out in the seventh. Cabrera has 13 home runs and 61 RBIs in 76 games at Kauffman Stadium. Iglesias' single before Cabrera's blast into the right-field bullpen extended his hitting streak to a season-high 14 games.

James McCann led off the three-run seventh with a home run off Hochevar to knot the score 4-4.

"It doesn't feel good at all when you give up three runs especially when you've got the lead," Hochevar said. "That's obviously on what you want to go out and do. One unexecuted curveball to McCann and then Iglesias got a base hit, then you're pitching to Miguel Cabrera and you're trying not to give him anything over the heart of the plate, make him hit your pitch.

"He caught a fastball, down and away and went the opposite way with it. He has power to that side of the field. That's the worst-case scenario. I didn't see where it (location of pitch) ended up, I just know it ended up in two runs."

The Tigers tacked on three runs in the eighth off Peter Moylan. Ian Kinsler and Justin Upton stroked run-producing singles, while McCann contributed a sacrifice fly.

The Royals took advantage of a makeshift Tigers' outfield to score two runs in the first off Verlander. Whit Merrifield led off the inning with a ground ball single to left. Alcides Escobar hit a catchable fly ball to deep center, but Justin Upton, who was making a rare start in center with Cameron Maybin out with a leg injury, appeared to lose it in the sun. It plopped to the ground for a double with Merrifield stopping at third.

Merrifield scored on an Eric Hosmer ground out. Merrifield has scored a run in 10 consecutive home games. Lorenzo Cain flared a double to shallow right, bringing home Escobar.

The Tigers promptly got a run back on Danny Duffy's first pitch in the second inning, which Victor Martinez drilled into the left-field seats. Martinez was making his first start since Sunday because of a balky right knee.

Paulo Orlando led off the bottom of the second with a triple and J.D. Martinez was injured on the play. Martinez braced himself with his right hand as he ran into the wall at the right-field foul pole.

Brett Eibner, who was reinstated from the disabled list earlier in the day and a late clubhouse arrival after flying in from Oklahoma City, punched a RBI single in his first at-bat back, scoring Orlando.

Duffy could not hold the 3-1 lead in the fourth, giving up another leadoff home run to Victor Martinez and a solo shot to Nick Castellanos.

Eibner put the Royals in front in the fifth, which he led off with his first big league home run. That gave Eibner eight hits in his first 15 at-bats in the majors.

Duffy, who was making his seventh start, was removed after five innings, allowing three runs on four hits, three of them homers, while throwing 88 pitches. He was replaced by Joakim Soria.

"I had to be better for my team tonight and I just wasn't," Duffy said. "I hung the bullpen out to dry. My goal was to get into the seventh and it didn't happen. I'll take this and build it. I battled, that's one thing I definitely did. I didn't have my best stuff. I didn't feel my best. That's one thing people who stick around here do, is battle when they don't feel as good as they normally do."

Duffy did not quarrel with manager Ned Yost's decision to remove him after five innings.

"I think it was probably the right move," Duffy said. "In my heart, I'd love to go out for the sixth inning. I totally understand the move. I had 88 pitches through five innings and I haven't thrown over 90 this year. It's definitely a no-brainer. I wasn't as efficient as I have been. It wasn't one of my best starts this year. I gave up three solo home runs, so what?"

NOTES: Tigers CF Cameron Maybin is receiving treatment for a tender left quadriceps, which he hurt Monday in Chicago and was not in the lineup for the second time in three games. ... The Royals optioned OF Reymond Fuentes to Triple-A Omaha. ... LF Mike Aviles, who had back-to-back two-hit games against the White Sox, was in the Detroit lineup for the fifth straight game. ... Royals LF Alex Gordon took another round of on-the-field batting practice and could be leaving this weekend on a minor league rehab assignment. He went on the disabled May 23 with a broken right wrist. ... Royals Hall of Fame manager Dick Howser died on this date 29 years ago from a brain tumor after guiding the team to their first World Series championship in 1985. ... Tigers rookie RHP Michael Fulmer and Royals RHP Yordano Ventura are the pitching probables Friday. Fulmer is 5-0 with a 0.26 ERA in his past five starts.