Detroit Tigers (17-26, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Kansas City Royals (20-22, third in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Kansas; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Tigers: Jose Urena (1-4, 4.22 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 32 strikeouts) Royals: Mike Minor (3-2, 5.02 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 44 strikeouts)
LINE: Royals -158, Tigers +137; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City and Detroit will square off on Friday.
The Royals are 9-16 against AL Central teams. Kansas City has hit 39 home runs this season, the lowest total in the American League. Salvador Perez leads the club with nine, averaging one every 18.2 at-bats.
The Tigers are 8-13 against teams from the AL Central. Detroit hitters have posted a team on-base percentage of .291 this season, led by Robbie Grossman with a mark of .374.
The Tigers won the last meeting 4-3. Spencer Turnbull earned his second victory and JaCoby Jones went 1-for-2 with an RBI for Detroit. Daniel Lynch registered his second loss for Kansas City.
TOP PERFORMERS: Perez leads the Royals with 45 hits and has 27 RBIs.
Grossman leads the Tigers with 14 extra base hits and is slugging .405.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 4-6, .223 batting average, 3.94 ERA, outscored by one run
Tigers: 8-2, .277 batting average, 2.97 ERA, outscored opponents by 15 runs
INJURIES: Royals: Daniel Tillo: (undisclosed), Danny Duffy: (forearm), Adalberto Mondesi: (right oblique strain), Hunter Dozier: (concussion).
Tigers: Julio Teheran: (shoulder), Erasmo Ramirez: (right pectoralis), Derek Holland: (left shoulder), Willi Castro: (elbow), Grayson Greiner: (left hamstring).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
