Tigers at Royals
Michael Fulmer began his four-start winning streak by falling one out shy of a complete game versus the Kansas City Royals last month. The 2016 American League Rookie of the Year looks to continue his winning ways at the expense of the Royals on Thursday as the Detroit Tigers aim to exit Kauffman Stadium with a third victory in the finale of the four-game series.
The Tigers erupted for 19 runs in the first two contests of the series and 36 during their season high-tying four-game winning streak before seeing their offense go limp until Mikie Mahtook's two-run homer in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 4-3 setback. Justin Upton registered his fourth multi-hit performance in six games and looks to continue his success versus Danny Duffy, against whom he is 4-for-11 with two homers in his career. While Detroit failed to continue its recent momentum, Kansas City posted just its second win in nine overall contests and third in nine encounters with the Tigers this season to move within two games of AL Central-leading Cleveland. Mike Moustakas ripped a go-ahead RBI single in the seventh inning on Wednesday to give him three hits in his last two games, matching the total he accumulated over his previous five contests.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, FSN Detroit, FSN Kansas City
PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Michael Fulmer (10-6, 3.06 ERA) vs. Royals LH Danny Duffy (5-6, 3.51)
Fulmer improved to 4-0 with a 3.06 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in his last four outings on Saturday after allowing one run and only two hits in eight innings of an 11-1 rout versus Toronto. The 24-year-old struck out just three in that contest, but that's of little concern considering his pitch count stayed low as he worked at least eight frames for the third time in four contests. "I'm worried about getting outs, and strikeouts mean more pitches," Fulmer told reporters. "There are times when you want to try to strike a guy out, but I'm happy with a weak grounder to short."
Duffy sustained his second straight loss and third in four outings on Saturday despite yielding one run and five hits in 8 1/3 innings of a 1-0 setback versus Texas. The lone run came in the ninth after the 28-year-old allowed a leadoff single by Jonathan Lucroy and, eventually, a game-winning base hit by Shin-Soo Choo. In addition to Upton, Duffy has struggled with Nicholas Castellanos (7-for-21) and Victor Martinez (12-for-35, three homers).
WALK-OFFS
1. Kansas City 2B Whit Merrifield has recorded five doubles and scored three runs during his six-game hitting streak.
2. Detroit 2B Ian Kinsler has registered six hits in the series and is riding a five-game run-scoring streak.
3. Royals C Salvador Perez has hit safely in each contest of this series after going 0-for-9 with three strikeouts in his previous three games.