Royals seek to even weekend series after losing opener in Detroit
The Detroit Tigers moved past the Kansas City Royals atop the AL Central with a walk-off win in the series opener. They appear to have a good chance to pad their lead with Anibal Sanchez taking the mound at Comerica Park.
After carrying a perfect game into the sixth inning last weekend in Kansas City, Sanchez looks to continue his home dominance against the Royals on Saturday.
A pitchers' duel between David Price and Yordano Ventura never materialized Friday, as the Tigers scored four in the second inning before Kansas City tied it with four in the fourth. It was a 5-5 game in the ninth when Royals reliever Yohan Pino, called up earlier in the day, threw wildly to first base on Ian Kinsler's bunt attempt, allowing Anthony Gose to score the winning run.
The Tigers (19-11), who split a four-game series with the Royals last week, moved one-half game ahead of Kansas City (18-11).
Detroit is hopeful the victory didn't come at a cost, however, as Price left the game in the seventh inning with a leg injury sustained from stepping on a discarded bat.
"Any injury is concerning, especially when you are talking about the ace of your staff," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said. "But I'm less concerned now that I've heard the diagnosis."
Ausmus also probably isn't too concerned with giving the ball to Sanchez (2-3, 5.11 ERA), who has won his last five starts against the Royals.
The right-hander retired the first 15 batters and wound up allowing three runs and four hits over 7 1/3 innings in Sunday's 6-4 win. He is 6-2 with a 1.40 ERA in eight career starts against Kansas City for his lowest ERA against any club he has faced more than once.
"I guess I just know them really well," Sanchez said when asked why he continually stymies the Royals. "We'll see. I face them again in my next start."
Watch the Royals-Tigers game at 11:30 a.m. on FOX Sports 1.
This one could be even better considering he has a 0.77 ERA in winning all three of his starts versus Kansas City in Detroit.
Salvador Perez is 2 for 17 against Sanchez, Lorenzo Cain is 3 for 16 and Eric Hosmer is 6 for 25, though Hosmer did double in last week's matchup.
Jeremy Guthrie (1-2, 6.52) opposed Sanchez last week, permitting six runs and 11 hits in six innings to take the loss. Miguel Cabrera again made life miserable for Guthrie, going 3 for 3 with a homer in their matchups while Alex Avila and Yoenis Cespedes had two hits apiece.
He has yielded at least four runs in four of five starts and his .376 opponent on-base percentage is the fourth-worst in the AL.
"Hitters have slumps and pitchers have slumps," Royals manager Ned Yost told MLB's official website. "You have to allow them, especially when they're veteran guys, to work through slumps.
"I thought he threw the ball better (Sunday) than he did last time, and I thought he threw the ball better last time than he did the time before. We're making progress."
Despite being knocked around last week, Guthrie has proven he can pitch well against the Tigers, though there's also a chance he could get hit hard again. Since the start of last season, Guthrie has a 1.50 ERA in two wins in the series but a 14.21 ERA in three losses.
Cabrera is batting .358 with four home runs and a double against Guthrie in 53 at-bats and Nick Castellanos, who doubled off the right-hander last weekend, is 5 for 12 with three doubles in their all-time matchups.
