Game LXVIII: Royals v. Tigers

The Royals haven’t had a lot of success against teams this season. Typically, teams that are 21-46 don’t succeed against other teams. Through nearly half the season, the Royals have a winning record against just one team — the Cleveland Indians.

They have, however, outscored three teams in their head-to-head matchups — the Indians, Rangers, and tonight’s opponent, the Tigers. They are just 2-6 against the Tigers despite outscoring them in their eight matchups.

The Tigers are coming into this matchup at just 25-39. For those doing the math at home, that means that 25% of Detroit’s wins have come against Kansas City. The series heads to Omaha for a special one-game matchup at TD Ameritrade Park with the Royals looking to win their first series since they took two of three from the Rays on May 1-2. Again, for those counting at home, that’s 11-consecutive series without a win.

Alex Gordon, a Nebraska native who played his college baseball at Nebraska, won’t be able to play because he was hit by a pitch last night.

Here are the lineups tonight, without Gordo. Kelvin Gutierrez will be staying in Omaha with Lucas Duda being activated, but he will operate as the 26th-man tonight and start at 3rd base. Matthew Boyd will get the ball for the Tigers while Homer Bailey will oppose him.