Royals at Tigers
The Detroit Tigers were looking like baseball's best team when they last saw the Kansas City Royals, completing a three-game road sweep to improve to 9-3. The Tigers have been in a tailspin since, dropping eight of 10 after losing two of three at Yankee Stadium over the weekend. Monday was a damp day on multiple fronts for Detroit. Not only was the series opener against the Royals rained out, but the Tigers learned that left fielder Delmon Young was suspended seven days by Major League Baseball in the wake of his arrest on a hate crime charge.
The series against the Tigers was part of a disastrous 0-10 homestand for Kansas City, which lost 12 straight before reeling off a three-game winning streak that ended Sunday in Minnesota. The Royals managed only six runs in the previous set against Detroit, but their offense has come alive of late, putting up 19 runs in four games. Billy Butler has led the way, stringing together four consecutive multi-hit games in a five-game hitting streak to boost his average to .329.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Kansas City, FS Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Luke Hochevar (2-1, 4.98 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Rick Porcello (1-2, 6.45 ERA)
Hochevar is being moved up a day in the rotation after scheduled starter Jonathan Sanchez felt ill over the weekend. He appears to be rounding into form following an ugly home opener in which he was shelled for seven runs on nine hits in four innings and took a line drive off his left ankle. The former No. 1 overall pick went 6 1/3 strong innings last time out against Cleveland, allowing two runs on four hits.
Porcello opened the season with two strong starts but has been lit up in his last two outings, including getting battered for nine runs in a career-low one-plus inning in a loss to the Texas Rangers on April 21. He was also tagged for five runs on seven hits against Seattle last time out. Porcello, who is 4-2 in 11 career starts against the Royals, has already surrendered four homers after yielding only 18 in 31 starts last season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera has tattooed Hochevar to the tune of 15-for-29 with two homers and nine RBIs.
2. Butler is 10-for-23 with three homers and seven RBIs during his five-game hitting streak. He is a .330 career hitter against the Tigers.
3. Young, who was placed on the restricted list Saturday, will be eligible to return for Friday's game against the Chicago White Sox.