Tigers at Royals
The Kansas City Royals are trying to climb out of the cellar in the American League Central and can get a little closer to accomplishing that when they host the struggling Detroit Tigers in the rubber match of their three-game series on Wednesday. The Royals blanked the Tigers 1-0 on Tuesday to even the set and pull within 1 ½ games of passing them for fourth place in the division.
Eric Hosmer knocked in the only run and four pitchers limited Detroit to three hits while Whit Merrifield extended his hitting streak to 15 games with an infield single for the Royals. Ian Kennedy will try to record his first victory of the season for Kansas City, and the Tigers will counter with the struggling Matt Boyd in the series finale. Detroit has lost eight of 11 games and is just 12-18 on the road this season after striking out 10 times in Tuesday’s setback. Jose Iglesias registered one of the three hits and is 4-for-7 in the series while teammate Victor Martinez is 3-for-8 in the last two games for the Tigers, who are 6-20 when they score fewer than four runs.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, FSN Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers LH Matt Boyd (2-5, 5.40 ERA) vs. Royals RH Ian Kennedy (0-4, 4.43)
Boyd is winless in his last seven starts and has not made it through six innings in the past three outings, allowing 14 runs over 12 1/3 frames in that stretch. The 26-year-old Oregon State product put together three straight quality starts while going 0-2 before the rough three-game run. Merrifield is 3-for-4 with four RBIs against Boyd, who is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA in six career starts versus the Royals.
Kennedy gave up four runs and three hits over five innings of a no-decision last time out against Cleveland. The 32-year-old USC product has not completed six frames in any of his last four outings after recording three straight quality starts that averaged seven innings. Miguel Cabrera is 5-for-13 with two doubles versus Kennedy, who is 1-3 with a 3.79 ERA in six career starts against Detroit.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kansas City placed LHP Danny Duffy (oblique) on the 10-day disabled list and recalled LHP Eric Skoglund, who won his major-league debut.
2. Detroit INF/OF Andrew Romine did not play Tuesday but has hit safely in five straight games, going 8-for-20 in that stretch.
3. Royals C Salvador Perez needs one homer to pass Mike Macfarlane (93) and become the franchise's all-time leader at the position.