Alfredo Simon (4-0, 1.65 ERA) is on the hill for the Detroit Tigers (15-7) as they square off against Danny Duffy (1-0, 4.15 ERA) and the Kansas City Royals (14-7) in the first of a four-game series at Kauffman Stadium. Action begins at 8:10 p.m. ET on Thursday, Apr. 30 and can be seen on FSN-DET and FSN-KC. MLB Netw.
Duffy is 1-6 with a 3.42 ERA in his appearances against the Tigers, and goes up against a quality Detroit offense which is batting .288 this season. Mike Moustakas (.353, 18 Rs, 3 HRs, 8 RBIs, 1 SB) had another good game yesterday, going 2 for 4 with one run. Simon is 3-1 with a 3.18 ERA when pitching against the Royals. He takes on a good Kansas City offense which is hitting .302 this season. Miguel Cabrera (.370, 12 Rs, 5 HRs, 17 RBIs, 1 SB) has been successful at the plate for the Tigers, going 3 for 5 yesterday with two runs, two home runs, and four RBIs.
Kansas City is a narrow -108 favorite at home against Detroit. The matchup has an estimated Over/Under (O/U) of eight runs. The Royals have an overall money line of +817 and a record as the favorite of 6-5. Kansas City has had an impressive season against division opponents, earning 6-4 and 9-5 records as the favorite and SU respectively. The Royals lead the AL in hits with an impressive 10.8 per game. Kansas City is one of the best in the MLB in terms of steals, swiping 18 bases. Crossing over to the pitching staff, opposing offenses have been stifled by the Royals, who have a team ERA of only 2.99. The Royals are the fifth-best team in the league at limiting hits and walks to their opponents, recording a WHIP of 1.11 so far this season.
In the other locker room, Detroit is coming in with an overall money line of +677 and an impressive record of 5-1 as the dog. They have managed to pull off a perfect record over their last ten games while playing as the underdog, and have a 5-5 SU record over the same span. Offensively, the Tigers have really picked up the pace in division games. They have exceeded their season average of 4.9 runs per game by averaging 6.1 in those contests. The Tigers are an excellent base stealing team with 24 stolen bases, ranking third in the MLB. The Tigers allow 4.1 runs per game, but have damaged those numbers in the past 10 games, allowing 5.5 runs per game during that span. When it comes to issuing walks, the Tigers have the fifth-fewest in the AL with an average of just 2.7 walks allowed per game.
The Royals have a great 7-4 record against right-handed starting pitchers on the year, which is what they’ll be facing when Simon takes the mound. Duffy (LHP) will be on the hill against the Tigers, who have a 5-1 record against left-handed starting pitchers.
Predictions: SU Winner – KC, O/U – Over
Notes
When leading after 7 innings, Kansas City is 7-1, while Detroit is 8-4.
The Royals managed to give up five walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the Tigers who are coming in with a 6-1 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
When outhit, both the Royals and the Tigers have records of 0-3.
Ranking 16th in home runs, Kansas City has hit 17 this season. Detroit ranks 10th with 22 home runs.
Kansas City ranks at the top of the league when it comes to hits with 10.80 per game this season. Detroit ranks in the top five at third with 9.38.
Kansas City and Detroit both rank in the top five of the league for their on-base plus slugging percentage. Kansas City sits at third with an OPS of .806 and Detroit ranks fourth with an OPS of .805.
The Tigers are 4-5 in games where they allow one or more home runs. The Royals are 9-4 when they allow at least one homer.
