Game Fifty-One: Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals

The monarchical rulers of Kansas City take on the big striped cats of Detroit tonight in a game that will decide the series. A victory tonight would give the Royals their second winning home series of the season.

Zack Greinke makes the start for Kansas City. While he’s far from the pitcher he once was, he remains a cromulent big league starter that’ll toss five or six innings that aren’t dominant, but good enough to keep your team in the game. He’s managed that in all but one of his ten starts this season. Greinke’s last outing against Detroit was his second to last outing of 2022. He put together his best start of the season, throwing seven shutout innings and allowing only five baserunners. That was the only time he completed the seventh inning in 2022.

Detroit will counter with Matthew Boyd. Boyd has had quite the career arc. He arrived in Detroit as part of the David Price trade in 2015. From 2016-2020, he was an unexceptional major league starter that had home run problems and consistently underperformed his xERA. He got off to a better start run-prevention wise in 2021 but hurt his flexor and missed most of the season. He was non-tendered that offseason and signed a one-year deal with the Giants. Boyd never actually pitched for San Francisco, spending the season rehabbing until being traded at the deadline to Seattle. He pitched sparingly down the stretch out of Seattle’s bullpen, but he faced just three batters in the postseason. Reaching free agency once again, he signed a one-year deal to return to Detroit and is once again a full-time starter for the Tigers. He is the same as he ever was: a 6.21 ERA paired with a 4.27 xERA. His last start against Kansas City was on June 14, 2021, a game which he left due to injury.

First pitch: 6:40 pm CDT

Royals lineup

Tigers lineup