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The Detroit Tigers host the Kansas City Royals at Comerica Park on Thursday night to conclude a four-game series. The Royals will open with 23-year old rookie starter Brady Singer while the Tigers will counter with veteran right-hander Ivan Nova. Detroit leads their series 2-1 after the Tigers pulled off a come-from-behind 5-4 win on Wednesday night. JaCoby Jones’ solo home run in the 7th inning capped a comeback which saw the Tigers rally from a 0-4 deficit. Detroit now looks to clinch the series with a win on Thursday.
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals look to salvage a tie in their four-game series against the Detroit Tigers. The Royals blew a four-run lead on Wednesday night and lost 4-5 to fall to 2-4 on the season. Whit Merrifield had two hits and scored twice for the Royals while Mikael Franco hit two doubles and a single in a losing effort.
Brady Singer gets the second start of his career against the Tigers on Thursday night. The 23-year old right-hander had a solid MLB debut last July 26th against the Tribe. Singer allowed two runs on three hits, two errors, and two walks with seven strikeouts in five innings pitched. He was the Royals’ first-round pick in 2018 and had an ERA of 2.58 in the minors last season.
Whit Merrifield leads Kansas City with a batting average of .368. He has also produced a team-high seven RBIs and already has two home runs this year. Third baseman Mikael Franco also has two home runs and 5 RBIs for the Royals while catcher Salvador Perez has three RBIs and two home runs.
The Royals have scored a total of 22 runs on the season. They are 28th in batting average at .199 and 29th in OBP at .264. Their slugging percentage of .398 is ranked 18th in the league. Meanwhile, the Kansas City pitching staff is ranked 13th with an ERA of 3.98. They also have a WHIP of 1.3 and a BAA of .234.
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers will look to build on the momentum of their come-from-behind win over the Royals on Wednesday night. The Tigers improved to 4-2 on the season and they have now homered on every game so far this year after finishing last in the American League in that category last season. JaCoby Jones and Jonathan Schoop homered for the Tigers on Wednesday night.
Ivan Nova will open on top of the mound for the Tigers. The 33-year old from the Dominican Republic started during Detroit’s July 26th 6-4 win against Cincinnati and he allowed three hits with three runs including two home runs while striking out two batters and walking four. Nova finished 2019 with a record of 11-12 with an ERA of 4.72 and a WHIP of 1.45 while starting 34 games for the Chicago White Sox.
Jacoby Jones is batting at .312 and he leads the Tigers with a total of 5 RBIs on the year. Jones also has two home runs already this year. Likewise, CJ Cron has homered twice and he has a total of 4 RBIs to start the year. Jonathan Schoop also has three RBIs already for the Tigers.
The Tigers are ranked 23rd in batting at .206 and OBP at .289 while posting the 11th best slugging percentage at .419. They have scored a total of 20 runs through their first five games played. Detroit’s pitching staff has an ERA of 5.93, a WHIP of .136, and a BAA of .235 this season.
Who Wins?
Entering Wednesday’s games, the Royals are 6-14 SU in their last 20 games played. Kansas City is also 3-8 SU in their last 11 games played. On the other hand, the Tigers are 5-12 SU in their last 17 games played. Detroit is 1-1 SU in two home games played this season. Head to head, the Royals are 5-2 SU in their last seven games played against the Tigers. Kansas City is also 8-4 SU in their last 12 games played in Detroit.
It has been a good start for this rebuilding Detroit franchise as they won two out of three games in their opening series against the Cincinnati Reds. Ivan Nova held a solid Cincinnati lineup to only three runs during his debut last weekend and he gets another chance to show his worth on Thursday night.
The Tigers have also found their hitting early in the season as they have already produced 10 home runs through five games played. With Jonathan Schoop, C.J. Cron, and Miguel Cabrera batting in the middle of the lineup, this team has some serious pop. The Royals will counter with Brady Singer who looked good in his debut but remember that he’s still a rookie who will be making his second start here. Give me the Tigers.
Prediction: Detroit Tigers (-105)
Other Bets to Make
Heading to Wednesday’s schedule, the total has gone under in six out of the last eight games played by the Royals. The under is also 6-2 in their last eight games played against the American League. Likewise, the total has gone under in six out of the last eight games played by Kansas City against the AL Central Division. Meanwhile, the total has gone under in six out of the last eight games played by the Tigers. Detroit has seen the total go under in four out of their last five games against the American League. The under is also 4-1 in their last five games against the AL Central Division.
Over 10
-115
Under 10
-105
Odds from BetOnline as of 07/29/2020
Kansas City has one of the worst pitching staff to open the season. The Royals have allowed a total of 19 runs in their first three assignments. On the other hand, Detroit’s bats have been productive and they have seen the over go 5-2-1 in their last eight games as the betting favorite. In addition, I don’t think that Nova will go past five or six innings and Detroit doesn’t have a very good bullpen. They won’t score 13 runs like they did last Monday but I expect them to score enough runs to help Detroit push the total to the over.
Prediction: Over 10 (-105)
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