Kansas City Royals (66-62, second in the AL Central) vs. Detroit Tigers (76-53, first in the AL Central)
Detroit; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Ryan Bergert (1-1, 2.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 51 strikeouts); Tigers: Casey Mize (12-4, 3.63 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 103 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Tigers host the Kansas City Royals to start a three-game series.
Detroit has a 76-53 record overall and a 42-24 record in home games. Tigers hitters have a collective .319 on-base percentage, the fifth-ranked percentage in the AL.
Kansas City is 66-62 overall and 30-32 on the road. Royals hitters are batting a collective .246, which ranks eighth in the AL.
The teams meet Friday for the eighth time this season. The Tigers are up 5-2 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Gleyber Torres has 18 doubles and 13 home runs for the Tigers. Dillon Dingler is 11 for 36 with two doubles, a triple and a home run over the last 10 games.
Maikel Garcia has a .299 batting average to lead the Royals, and has 32 doubles, five triples and 12 home runs. Bobby Witt Jr. is 16 for 37 with a home run and four RBIs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 8-2, .232 batting average, 2.57 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs
Royals: 8-2, .272 batting average, 3.10 ERA, outscored opponents by 18 runs
INJURIES: Tigers: Matt Vierling: 10-Day IL (oblique), Paul Sewald: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Reese Olson: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Parker Meadows: 10-Day IL (quadricep), Sean Guenther: 60-Day IL (hip), Jackson Jobe: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jason Foley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Cobb: 60-Day IL (hip), Ty Madden: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Royals: Hunter Harvey: 15-Day IL (abductor), Steven Cruz: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Kris Bubic: 60-Day IL (rotator cuff), Jac Caglianone: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Cole Ragans: 60-Day IL (rotator cuff), Michael Massey: 10-Day IL (ankle), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
