Royals at Tigers
The Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers are handing the American League Central lead back and forth. The Royals will try to gain some separation and earn a series win when they visit the Tigers for the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday.
Detroit took the series opener 6-5 on Friday to grab the lead in the Central, but Kansas City fought back to earn a 6-2 triumph in Saturday’s game, going up by a half-game in the division. The positive for the Tigers on Saturday came from Victor Martinez, who had his first extra-base hit of the season while batting left-handed. “I'm still not where I want to be right now," Martinez told reporters, "but at least I'm able to go out there and compete and have good at-bats and help the team." Martinez is still battling his way back after surgery on his left knee and is 7-for-15 with six RBIs in his last four games.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ESPN
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Chris Young (2-0, 1.06 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Shane Greene (3-2, 5.56)
Young has taken on a swingman role for Kansas City and will jump back out of the bullpen to make a start in place of Jason Vargas (elbow). Young worked five hitless innings against Detroit to earn a win on May 1, striking out nine while walking three. The veteran sinkerballer is 3-0 with a 1.41 ERA in five career starts against the Tigers.
Greene has been knocked around badly in each of his last three starts, surrendering a total of 20 runs in 11 innings. The 26-year-old allowed a total of one earned run in winning each of his first three starts but has failed to make it out of the fourth inning in the last three. Greene faced the Royals once last season and yielded a pair of unearned runs in five innings to absorb a loss.
WALK-OFFS
1. Royals SS Alcides Escobar slugged a leadoff homer on Saturday and is 7-for-16 in the last four games.
2. Detroit 1B Miguel Cabrera is 3-for-18 over his last five games to drop his batting average from .366 to .333.
3. Kansas City 1B Eric Hosmer has hit safely in 11 of the last 12 games.