The Detroit Tigers are on fire after they trounced the Kansas City Royals in their last outing. The Tigers scored 16 runs over nine innings of baseball to collect 34 total runs over their last three games while reminding their fellow AL Central teams that they are the class of the division.
The Kansas City Royals will be out to prove they are still in the pennant mix this season tonight. Meanwhile, the NL Central will pit its top two teams against each other as the St. Louis Cardinals meet the Milwaukee Brewers. Find the complete preview of the Cards-Brewers game here. In the meantime, for everything you need to know about this big game in the bigs.
[sc:MultiSportArticles ]Detroit Tigers vs. Kansas City Royals, Major League Baseball, Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City
When: Friday, July 11, 8:10 PM ET
Line: Detroit Tigers (-113) vs. Kansas City Royals (+203); total 7.5 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers put up a season-best 16 runs in their 16-4 victory over the Royals in Kansas City on Thursday, extending their win streak to three games.
[sc:MLB240banner ]The season-best scoring performance was thanks to the hot hitting of Detroit’s batters J.D. Martinez and Torii Hunter. Martinez has hit .429 during a nine-game hitting streak. He went 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the win over Kansas City. Hunter, on the other hand, is batting .485 with three homers and 13 RBIs in his last eight games.
Miguel Cabrera also took care of business, driving in three. Cabrera’s biggest contribution may be still to come, however, as he is 5-for-16 in his career against the Royals’ Friday starter Danny Duffy.
Starting for Detroit on Friday is Anibal Sanchez (5-3, 3.18 ERA). The Detroit pitcher is 4-2 in his career against Kansas City, having not allowed the Royals to score more than one run in his six career starts against them. Sanchez is coming off his worst start of the season, in which he gave up seven earned runs in a 7-2 loss to Tampa Bay.
The Detroit Tigers are 9-2 in their last 11 road games.
Betting on the Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals had their worst pitching performance this season in the first game of their series against the Tigers. It may be their bats that need to pick up when Danny Duffy (5-8, 2.86 ERA) takes the mound Friday. Duffy’s 5-8 record does not do justice to his 2.86 ERA, as the KC slinger hasn’t had the run support. The same is true of his history vs. Detroit – Duffy is a respectable 1-5 with a 3.68 ERA in eight career starts against Detroit.
Kansas City’s All-Star Salvador Perez, who has a hit in three of the team’s last four games, is 0-for-12 lifetime against Detroit’s Sanchez. He’ll need to turn that around to support what needs to be a much better team effort against the Tigers.
Nevertheless, the Kansas City Royals still have a pair of hot hitters to pin their hopes on. Billy Butler is on a five-game hitting streak that he kept up with a homer on Wednesday. Eric Hosmer has an 11-game hitting streak of his own going, with a homer each in his last two games.
The Kansas City Royals are 0-4 in their last four home games against Detroit.
Writer’s Prediction
The Detroit Tigers dominate the Royals again. Take them at -113 to extend their win streak to four games.
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