Royals at Tigers
The Kansas City Royals have had no shortage of drama in their recent surge and will try to stay hot when they hit the road Monday for the first of three games at the Detroit Tigers. Brandon Moss delivered an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Royals to a 6-5 win over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday, their fourth walk-off victory during a 10-game homestand.
Kansas City has won five in a row overall, one shy of matching its longest winning streak of the season, and remains 1 1/2 games behind first-place Cleveland in the American League Central. Whit Merrifield has been the primary catalyst and the second baseman had a pair of solo homers Sunday to finish the homestand with a .375 average and eight RBIs. The Tigers split four games at Kansas City last week and followed that up by taking two of three at Minnesota - capped by Sunday's 9-6 win behind Jose Iglesias, who homered and drove in three runs. Detroit slugger Miguel Cabrera returned from a collarbone issue but went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts to drop his average to .256, the lowest it has been in nearly two months.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Kansas City, FSN Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Royals RH Jason Hammel (4-8, 4.81 ERA) vs. Tigers RH Justin Verlander (5-7, 4.54)
Hammel has gone five straight starts without a win but he was solid opposite Verlander on Wednesday, allowing one run in 6 1/3 innings. The 34-year-old has let up three runs or fewer in eight of his last nine outings since giving up four runs in 4 1/3 frames against the Tigers on May 29. Hammel is 2-2 with a 6.98 ERA in 11 career games (eight starts) versus Detroit.
Verlander allowed two runs and struck out eight in seven innings against Kansas City his last time out, leaving him with a 2.57 ERA in three meetings with the Royals in 2017 compared to 4.97 against all other opponents. He has the highest walk rate of his career (4.2 per nine innings) but has issued exactly one free pass in three of his last six outings. The six-time All-Star has had good success against most Royals regulars, with the notable exception of catcher Salvador Perez, who is 25-for-61 with two homers and eight doubles against Verlander.
WALK-OFFS
1. Moss is 8-for-19 with two homers and eight RBIs during a five-game hitting streak.
2. Tigers CF Alex Presley has back-to-back three-hit games and is batting .459 during his 10-game hitting streak.
3. Kansas City has 30 comeback wins, most in the AL.