Detroit Tigers (23-23) at Kansas City Royals (29-19)
When: 7:40 p.m. on Monday.
Where: Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
TELEVISION: Bally Sports Detroit, FS1 outside of Detroit. (Do you have Xfinity but still looking for a way to watch BSD? Here are other options.)
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1). (Tigers affiliated radio stations).
Probable launchers: Tigers RHP Reese Olson (0-4, 2.09 ERA) vs. Royals RHP Michael Wacha (3-4, 4.71 ERA).
Climate: Low 80s, 30% chance of rain after 8 p.m.
• Scorecard
tiger lineup:
L.F. Riley Greene
BD Mark Canha
CF Wenceel Pérez
RF Kerry Carpenter
3B Gio Urshela
1B Spencer Torkelson
2B colt Keith
SS Javier Báez
Jake Rogers
P Reese Olson
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Game notes: The Tigers make their first appearance of the season at the jewel of Missouri (sorry, St. Louis), Kauffman Stadium. MLB’s sixth-oldest ballpark hasn’t always been the most friendly for the Tigers, although they went 5-2 there last season despite posting just a .242/.335/.361 line against pitching. the Royals. (Tigers pitchers, meanwhile, held Royals hitters to an equally putrid .230/.294/.357 slash line. Maybe there’s something in that Arthur Bryant sauce?)
Still, there are at least a few Tigers who enjoy stepping into the batter’s box in The K, with a trio of hitters posting OPS above .900 the past two seasons:
Riley Greene: .908 – Greene has five multi-hit games in his 13 appearances at KC, including a 3-for-4 performance on July 19 of last season. Still, Greene’s success is largely due to his contacts and work tours; he has just four extra-base hits in 57 plate appearances in The K, while also collecting 10 singles and seven walks.
javierbÁez: .918 — We know, it surprises us too. But El Mago’s magic in KC as a Tiger is only slightly better than his career OPS of .912 there. Maybe they should run the fountain more at Comerica Park when he’s hitting? In his last two seasons as a Tiger, Báez has seven doubles, a triple and a home run in 59 plate appearances. He also had a big game last July 19, hitting his first home run there since August 6, 2018.
Spencer Torkelson: .927 — Tork REALLY likes hitting in The K, with six multi-hit games (and three three-hit games) in 17 appearances. The most notable of them, of course, was his July 18, 2023 performance, in which he went 3-for-5 with a pair of home runs, a double and five RBIs as the Tigers scored four runs with one out in the ninth. entry of an eventual 11-10 defeat.
Then again, not all Tigers thrive in KC’s barbecue-and-carnage environment: Pitch one for poor Jake Rogers, who has a .133/.188/.167 slash line, with four hits and 12 strikeouts in 30 at bats. —eight-plus games in The K, and Andy Ibáñez, who also has just four hits (though only three strikeouts) in 20 at-bats for a .200/.238/.200 line.
On the mound, this will be Reese Olson’s first appearance in The K. However, he had few problems with Royals hitters last season; He racked up 15 strikeouts and just three walks in 11 2/3 innings over two appearances. (Although, in what has become something of a theme over the course of two seasons, he failed to get a win in either.)
The Royals, meanwhile, will send veteran right-hander Michael Wacha to the mound; He struggled against the Tigers in late April, allowing four runs on nine hits (two of which were home runs) with three strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. The home run hitters? Wenceel Pérez, for the first of his career, and… Jake Rogers. Something has to give, we guess.
After tonight, the Tigers and Royals continue their series with another night game on Tuesday, with Casey Mize on the mound for the Tigers, before concluding Wednesday afternoon with Tarik Skubal hitting the rubber.
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