The Detroit Tigers wouldn't go away.

The Tigers rallied in the ninth, 10th and 11th innings of Saturday's game. The series of clutch swings from Bligh Madris, Javier Báez, Justyn-Henry Malloy, Parker Meadows and, finally, Wenceel Pérez paid off in a 6-5 win over the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park.

"Skipper, that one was for you," manager A.J. Hinch said, dedicating the win to Hall of Fame manager Jim Leyland, who had his No. 10 retired as part of a pregame ceremony.

Pérez, who had one hit in six trips to the plate, produced the first walk-off hit of his MLB career, as the Tigers (53-59) snapped a five-game losing streak.

"It makes me feel great," Pérez said.

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Pérez drove in the game-winning run from third base by hitting a first-pitch sinker from right-handed reliever James McArthur over the outstretched glove of the right fielder and off the top of the wall.

He flipped his helmet in the air, jumped for joy and celebrated with his teammates.

"We have to stabilize in trying to compete, trying to get ready for the games and trying to come together," Pérez said. "That's what we did at the end. Everybody was fired up at Madris' homer. The team got fired up, and that's what we did."

The 11th inning was emotional.

A replay review changed the momentum in favor of the Royals in the top of the 11th, overturning the ruling of a stolen-base attempt.

Right-handed reliever Jason Foley struck out Salvador Pérez, and on the next pitch, Dairon Blanco — the free runner on second base — took off for third, resulting in a throw from catcher Jake Rogers to third baseman Matt Vierling.

Initially, Blanco was called out by third-base umpire Alan Porter. The Royals challenged the call on the field, and following a brief review, the umpires reversed the call because Blanco used a swim move to avoid the tag from Vierling.

On the next pitch, Blanco scored on Hunter Renfroe's single to left field off Foley's down-and-in sinker, making it 5-4 Royals.

The Tigers, though, stole back the momentum and rode it to a walk-off win in the bottom of the 11th inning against McArthur, thanks to big hits from Meadows and Pérez. Meadows hit a leadoff triple to score the free runner and tie the game, 5-5. After the Royals intentionally walked Báez, Pérez hit a walk-off single to win the game, 6-5.

"They're just trying to learn and grow and survive," Hinch said. "These guys are trying to be big leaguers. Some have been here longer than others, and some are trying to prove that they belong. I appreciate the fight. We're trying not to carry the baggage of the last week with us. It's been a tough week. We don't love where we're at now, and how we got there, but it doesn't change the fact that we can come up today and play a game like that against a really good team."

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Before the 11th inning

Before extras, the Tigers mounted a comeback in the bottom of the ninth inning, sparked by a solo home run from Madris off right-handed reliever Hunter Harvey.

Harvey hung a two-strike splitter over the heart of the strike zone, and Madris didn't miss the poorly executed pitch, hitting it 422 feet to right-center field to open the inning.

The homer cut the Tigers' deficit to 3-2.

"The energy was through the roof," Hinch said.

The Tigers kept their foot on the gas, as pinch-hitter Zach McKinstry — representing the game-tying run — battled for seven pitches and hit an elevated fastball for a double to right field. He advanced to third base on Meadows' groundout, then scored on Báez's double to even the score, 3-3.

Báez fouled three pitches in a row before ripping Harvey's down-and-in splitter into left field for an RBI double.

"You could tell Javy was locked in," Hinch said. "Maybe that at-bat helped later in the game when they intentionally walked him, and now all of a sudden, it brings Wenceel into play, and Wenceel came up with a really big swing. That at-bat certainly impacted the game getting us into extra innings. That at-bat also impacted decision-making later that opened up the win for us."

In the top of the 10th inning, the Royals' free runner advanced to third base on a groundout — with Foley on the mound — and scored for a 4-3 advantage on Bobby Witt Jr.'s sacrifice fly to center field.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Tigers' free runner advanced to third base on a groundout and ended up scoring to tie the game, 4-4, when Malloy smacked a two-strike changeup into the right-field corner for a two-out RBI double.

The opener (and then Kenta Maeda)

Left-handed reliever Tyler Holton, who started the game as an opener, retired nine batters in a row with three strikeouts before getting pulled from the game after 31 pitches.

Holton has pitched in 43 games, with five of them coming as the starting pitcher. He has allowed just one run across 11 innings when operating as the starter, for a 0.82 ERA in those situations.

"He's been huge, especially with these bullpen days," catcher Jake Rogers said of Holton. "He's grinded. He's built it up to three up-downs now. He's awesome out there."

Holton was followed by right-handed reliever Kenta Maeda, who surrendered three runs on six hits and one walk with four strikeouts across 3⅔ innings, throwing 69 pitches. Maeda dominated in his first three games out of the bullpen after getting removed from the starting rotation, but his fourth appearance wasn't as successful.

The 36-year-old cruised through the fourth and fifth innings before running into trouble in the sixth and seventh. He surrendered a solo home run in the sixth to Vinnie Pasquantino and a two-run home run in the seventh to Paul DeJong.

Maeda, who signed a two-year, $24 million contract last offseason, owns a 6.75 ERA in 20 games (16 starts) this season.

Facing ex-Tiger Michael Lorenzen

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who pitched for the Tigers last season, started for the Royals. He allowed one run on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5⅔ innings.

It was his first start for the Royals since being acquired from the Texas Rangers at the trade deadline.

The Tigers' first run occurred with two outs in the sixth inning, when Madris hit a ground-rule double to left-center field and Andy Ibáñez followed up with a bloop RBI single to tie the game, 1-1.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him @EvanPetzold.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers rally 3 times for 6-5 (11) win over Kansas City Royals