Tigers at Royals
The Royals had been searching for the big hit in back-to-back losses and found it from Salvador Perez in the series opener against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. Perez will try to follow up a career-high five RBIs when they Royals host the Tigers in the second of a three-game series on Wednesday.
Perez doubled and homered in the 8-6 win and was in his usual position behind the plate to watch the back of the bullpen do what it usually does. Kansas City built its pitching staff to be strong at the back end and Kelvin Herrera put out a fire and maintained his perfect 0.00 ERA by getting the final two outs of the eighth on Tuesday before handing it off to Wade Davis, who earned his sixth save and matched Herrera by keeping his ERA at a solid 0.00. The Tigers have dropped back-to-back games and three of four despite Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s hot streak. The slugging catcher homered in his third straight game in the series opener and has five home runs on the young season.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, FSN Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Jordan Zimmermann (2-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Royals RH Ian Kennedy (2-0, 0.66)
Detroit signed Zimmermann to a five-year, $110 million contract as a free agent over the winter and he is so far proving to be well worth the investment. Zimmermann held the New York Yankees to two hits in seven innings on Apr. 8 and followed that up with a win at Pittsburgh on Thursday. The Wisconsin native scattered six hits over six scoreless innings against the Pirates and is making his second career start against Kansas City.
The Royals made a more modest investment in Kennedy, bringing him in for five years and $70 million, but have been just as pleased with the results. Kennedy beat the Minnesota Twins with 6 2/3 scoreless innings in his team debut and held the Houston Astros to a solo home run in seven innings on Thursday. The California native came over from San Diego but began his career in the American League with the Yankees and is 0-2 with a 5.71 ERA in three starts against Detroit.
WALK-OFFS
1. Royals 1B Eric Hosmer has hit safely in nine straight games and reached base in each of the first 13 contests.
2. Kansas City RF Jarrod Dyson made his season debut on Tuesday and went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
3. Detroit 1B Miguel Cabrera struck out four times on Tuesday and is 1-for-9 with five strikeouts in the last two games.