Detroit Tigers (28-39, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (30-36, third in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Wednesday, 2:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Tigers: Tarik Skubal (3-7, 4.35 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 74 strikeouts) Royals: Brady Singer (3-5, 4.85 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 69 strikeouts)
LINE: Royals -146, Tigers +128; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City enters the matchup as losers of their last five games.
The Royals are 15-22 against the rest of their division. Kansas City has hit 64 home runs this season, the lowest total in the American League. Salvador Perez leads the club with 16, averaging one every 16 at-bats.
The Tigers have gone 13-24 against division opponents. Detroit has a team on-base percentage of .294, led by Robbie Grossman with a mark of .357.
The Tigers won the last meeting 4-3. Casey Mize recorded his fourth victory and Jonathan Schoop went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs for Detroit. Mike Minor registered his fourth loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Perez leads the Royals with 29 extra base hits and is batting .285.
Schoop leads the Tigers with 62 hits and is batting .261.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 1-9, .229 batting average, 6.30 ERA, outscored by 34 runs
Tigers: 5-5, .225 batting average, 4.40 ERA, outscored by seven runs
INJURIES: Royals: Daniel Tillo: (undisclosed), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Danny Duffy: (forearm), Ronald Bolanos: (flexor), Andrew Benintendi: (rib).
Tigers: Spencer Turnbull: (forearm), Julio Teheran: (shoulder), Erasmo Ramirez: (right pectoralis), Alex Lange: (right shoulder), Derek Holland: (shoulder), Rony Garcia: (knee), Matthew Boyd: (left arm), Victor Reyes: (intercostal strain), Derek Hill: (shoulder), Grayson Greiner: (left hamstring).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
