Royals vs. Tigers Pick
Can the Kansas City Royals pick up another road win over the Detroit Tigers when the two continue their series tonight at 7:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Tigers are favored at home, as they are getting odds of -145 to win. The Royals are listed with a money line of +120 to win. The over/under total for the game has been set at 8.5 runs.
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The pitching matchup for tonight has Michael Fulmer (10-7, 3.35 ERA) on the mound to face Danny Duffy (6-6, 3.71) of the Royals. Fulmer had been great, but was lit up for eight runs in 2.2 innings by the Royals last week in KC. On the season, Fulmer has 89 strikeouts with 28 walks and a 1.11 WHIP. Duffy has a good ERA for the season, but he has struggled in recent outings, giving up at least four runs in three of his last five starts. This year, Duffy has 75 strikeouts with 27 walks and a 1.28 WHIP.
The Royals opened this midweek series with a 5-3 win on Monday. Kansas City has now won three straight meetings with the Tigers. Kansas City is now 51-47 overall and 21-24 on the road while Detroit is 45-53 overall and 25-22 at home.
Monday’s win came in 12 innings. The Royals took a 3-0 lead but saw it disappear in the sixth inning. The two then went scoreless for five innings before Salvador Perez and Mike Moustakas homered in the 12th to push KC to the win. Moustakas now has 29 home runs on the season while Perez has 20. The Kansas City bullpen really shined in the win, pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits in the process. Justin Verlander pitched seven innings for Detroit and allowed all three runs with nine strikeouts. Drew Verhagen allowed the two home runs in his third inning of relief for Detroit. The Tigers were led at the plate by Alex Avila, who had two RBI.
Normally I like Fulmer on the mound, but he struggled last week against the Royals and I am not sure he can overcome the issues his hitters and bullpen are having. Duffy has been able to best the Tigers this season and I can see him doing it again since the team no longer has J.D. Martinez. With both teams requiring a lot of bullpen use, I think KC is in better shape today. The Detroit pen hasn’t been reliable all season, why would that change today?
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: KANSAS CITY ROYALS +120