Detroit Tigers (52-85, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (56-82, fourth in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Tigers: Matt Manning (1-2, 3.86 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 35 strikeouts); Royals: Jonathan Heasley (3-7, 4.98 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 57 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Royals -116, Tigers -103; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Tigers bring a 1-0 lead into the next game of the series against the Kansas City Royals.
Kansas City is 33-40 at home and 56-82 overall. The Royals are 41-12 in games when they have more hits than their opponents.
Detroit is 52-85 overall and 24-45 in road games. The Tigers are 28-61 in games when they have allowed at least one home run.
Saturday's game is the 14th time these teams meet this season. The Royals are up 8-5 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Salvador Perez leads the Royals with 20 home runs while slugging .457. Michael A. Taylor is 12-for-33 with two doubles, a triple, two home runs and six RBI over the last 10 games.
Javier Baez has 24 doubles, two triples, 12 home runs and 53 RBI for the Tigers. Eric Haase is 12-for-28 with four doubles, three home runs and four RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 4-5, .238 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by six runs
Tigers: 2-7, .243 batting average, 5.66 ERA, outscored by 28 runs
INJURIES: Royals: Josh Staumont: 15-Day IL (biceps), Taylor Clarke: 15-Day IL (oblique), Edward Olivares: 60-Day IL (quadricep), Angel Zerpa: 60-Day IL (knee), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (flexor), Adalberto Mondesi: 60-Day IL (knee), Tyler Zuber: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Tigers: Austin Meadows: 60-Day IL (mental health), Miguel Cabrera: 10-Day IL (biceps), Rony Garcia: 60-Day IL (biceps), Tarik Skubal: 60-Day IL (arm), Beau Brieske: 60-Day IL (forearm), Casey Mize: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kyle Funkhouser: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Spencer Turnbull: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jake Rogers: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
