Game eighty-eight: Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals

The Little Caesar’s of Detroit will take on the Jack Stack’s of Kansas City this afternoon with the boys in blue looking for the series win. Each team will send their best starting pitcher to the mound (best by FIP anyway, ERA is for losers).

For Kansas City, that starter is Brady Singer. His peripherals are good, but his contact metrics are not, and he’s given up more balls in the air than ever before, leading to more homers. In his last start - against Cleveland - he tossed seven innings of three run ball, with two of those coming in the seventh on a Franmil Reyes homer. It was his sixth start of the year with no walks and his fourth time completing the seventh inning. Brad Keller is the only other pitcher on the staff that has completed the seventh more than once. Singer is also second in called strike % among pitchers with at least 60 innings, which is neat.

For Detroit, that starter is Tarik Skubal. Skubal’s biggest issue in his young career had been the longball. But he started hot this year with a 2.15 ERA/1.98 FIP in his first ten starts with just two homers allowed. However, he has come back to earth since then with a 7.00 ERA/4.97 FIP in his last seven starts with seven homers allowed. That included his last start against the Royals a couple weekends ago, when he got tagged for five runs in four innings and change.

A win today would give Kansas City a series victory, while a loss would result in a split. Having won the series with Cleveland last weekend, a win today would also be the first back-to-back home series wins for the Royals this season.

First pitch: 1:10pm CDT

Royals Lineup

Tigers Lineup