Kansas City takes 9-game skid into matchup with Detroit

Kansas City Royals (16-18, third in the AL Central) vs. Detroit Tigers (11-24, fifth in the AL Central)

Detroit; Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Danny Duffy (4-2, 1.26 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 40 strikeouts) Tigers: Casey Mize (1-3, 4.41 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 23 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City enters the game as losers of their last nine games.

The Tigers are 6-13 against opponents from the AL Central. Detroit has a collective on-base percentage of .282, last in the American League. Robbie Grossman leads the team with a mark of .377.

The Royals are 7-12 against opponents from the AL Central. Kansas City has hit 32 home runs as a team this season. Salvador Perez leads the club with seven, averaging one every 19.1 at-bats.

The Tigers won the last meeting 8-7. Gregory Soto earned his third victory and Grossman went 2-for-5 with a triple and five RBIs for Detroit. Scott Barlow registered his first loss for Kansas City.

TOP PERFORMERS: Grossman leads the Tigers with 16 RBIs and is batting .233.

Perez leads the Royals with 36 hits and has 18 RBIs.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 3-7, .243 batting average, 6.61 ERA, outscored by 30 runs

Royals: 1-9, .243 batting average, 6.50 ERA, outscored by 30 runs

INJURIES: Tigers: Julio Teheran: (shoulder), Erasmo Ramirez: (right pectoralis), Derek Holland: (left shoulder), Wilson Ramos: (lumbar spine strain), Grayson Greiner: (hamstring).

Royals: Kyle Zimmer: (left trap), Daniel Tillo: (undisclosed), Jesse Hahn: (right shoulder), Adalberto Mondesi: (right oblique strain), Cam Gallagher: (concussion).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.