Updated SEP 20, 2014 1:15p ET  KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- They say, to a man, it's not about making a statement.  The Detroit Tigers' bats say something freaking else entirely.  On Friday night, the Tigers played the stick; the Kansas City Royals played the pinata. When you throw a 10-1 Detroit laugher onto the pile, the Motor City Kitties have put up nine runs or more at Kauffman Stadium on four different occasions this summer alone.  And here's the wild part: That's as many times as they'd posted a nine spot in Kansas City over the five previous seasons combined.  "For us, we really looked forward to this matchup," Tigers right fielder Torii Hunter said after his American League Central leaders pushed their division lead over the Royals to 1 1/2 games. "Sold-out crowd here in Kansas City; it always looks good when the fans come out to support their team. But also, it gives us energy, too. And adrenaline. It's just all kinds of fun when you have that excitement."  Oh, yeah. Lots of fun. Loads.  "A win is a win," Detroit manager Brad Ausmus said after the Tigers moved to 7-1 in Kansas City this year, with two more on the docket this weekend. "But it does make it a little bit easier when you've got that kind of lead."  In the five seasons prior to this magical, wacky summer, the Royals had won 39 of 91 meetings with Detroit -- a not-great, but hardly disastrous .428 clip. More to the point, 33 of those 91 meetings -- 36.3 percent -- had been one-run affairs, with the men in blue taking the overall count in the close ones, 17-16.  But here's the thing: After The Fighting Neds had seemingly closed the gap last year on Team Miggy -- Kansas City won 10 of the 19 overall meetings and seven of the nine one-run tilts -- nothing about this series has looked all that ... well, close ever since.  Not the season series -- the Tigers pushed their head-to-head record in '14 to 12-5 with Friday night's beatdown -- and sure as hell not the run differential.  Watch the Royals Live pregame and postgame shows before and after every Kansas City Royals game on FOX Sports Kansas City.  Only five of the meetings between the top two teams in the Central have been decided by a run, and Detroit has won four of those five tilts. In fact, one of the two clubs has allowed at least nine runs in seven of the two teams' meetings this year.  "I don't know what's going on," Hunter said.  But he'll take it just the same.  "(Taking the crowd out), that's not our intent," Hunter said. "Our intent is just play the game and keep going. Statements are for you guys (in the media) and the fans. We don't say that. We just play hard and go out and do what we are capable of."  A sellout crowd had Thundersticks at the ready. The visitors, meanwhile, brought plenty of their own. And the bad, bad, bad omens for the Local Nine started early: With one out in the top of the first, Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera crushed a liner to left, and Alex Gordon -- Gordo, the three-time Gold Glover, The Human Hit Eraser -- misjudged it into a double.  A few lasers later, it was 3-0 Tigers. Just like that.  "Early in the game," Ausmus said, "there (are) no small runs."  But there would be much, much larger ones later. Royals skipper Ned Yost went through two Colemans (Casey and Louis), six hits and five runs in the top of the fifth as Detroit happily pushed its cushion to 10-0. The crowd hit the concession stands to grouse, and Tigers starter Justin Verlander (14-12) went into cruise control.  "Obviously, it's a huge series for us," Verlander said, "and that's what I love about this team: We always seem to know the moment and how to capture it."  *By clicking "SUBSCRIBE", you have read and agreed to the Fox Sports Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.  The hosts, though, not so much. Since 2010, the Royals are 9-29 at home before crowds of 32,000 or more -- 37,945 turned up Friday -- and just 6-12 in those circumstances over the last two otherwise strong campaigns. Which is even more confounding.  "I've been here for years and a lot of these guys have been with the Tigers for a while, so (the stadium) is nothing new," Hunter said. "We love the backdrop. We love everything about the stadium. It's awesome."  You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.
The Tigers are becoming accustomed to putting up big numbers against the Royals in 2014, and though a sold-out Kauffman Stadium crowd came armed with Thundersticks, it was Detroit that wielded them Friday night.