The Kansas City Royals are on the road at the Detroit Tigers. This is the first of a four game series between these two American League Central teams. The Kansas City Royals are 60-49, which is in the mix with Minnesota for second in the division. The Royals have won three in a row; all over the Chicago White Sox.
The Detroit Tigers come into the game with a 52-57 record on the season. The Tigers are fourth in the divisional standings. The Tigers lost three straight games, all at home to the first place Cleveland Guardians.
The Kansas City Royals are -172 over the Detroit Tigers. The total is 8.5.
Red Hot Royals
Kansas City got off to a quick start in the win on Wednesday, as Vinnie Pasquantino drove in a run in the first, and Freddy Fermin hit a two run homerun in the second inning. Salvador Perez put the Royals back on top in the third inning, and added another RBI in the fifth. Kansas City has the leading hitter in all of the American League in Bobby Witt. He is hitting .346 heading into this game.
Seth Lugo will get the ball for the Kansas City Royals in this game. Lugo is 12-4 on the season, with a 2.38 earned run average. The right hander is 34 years old, and having one of his best seasons in his career. He has thrown 142.1 innings, and struck out 124 batters on the season.
The Royals are going to start August with this road series at Detroit for four games. Next week, Kansas City is set to head home for three games against the Red Sox, and then two games against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Tigers Looking to Spoil
For the Detroit Tigers, Keider Montero will get the nod. Montero is 1-4 on the season, with an ERA of 6.38. Montero has thrown just 36.2 innings in six starts this season. He has struck out 31 batters and walked 11. He has also allowed 10 homeruns through 6 starts in 2024.
The Tigers scored just four runs in the two game series against Cleveland. In fact, over their last three games, they have scored a total of four runs. Detroit has struggled offensively all season. The Tigers are hitting .231, and scoring just 4.2 runs per game. The Tigers have clubbed 112 homeruns, which is 18th in the league.
The top Detroit offensive threats have been Matt Vierling, Riley Greene and Colt Keith. Vierling leads the team, with an average near .300. Greene has the most home runs on the team with 17, while Keith has 11 homeruns and 10 doubles on the season.
Royals Top Tigers
Look for Kansas City to keep playing good baseball and beat the Tigers. Detroit is going to be preparing for the future for the rest of the season. The Royals want to push towards the postseason as the season moves along. The final bet for this game is the Kansas City Royals -1.5 (+100) over the Detroit Tigers. Kansas City wins 5-3 over Detroit.