Friday, April 26, 2024 at 1:10pm EDT
Written by Mark Ruelle
The Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers get set for a three-game series this weekend starting Friday night in Detroit. The two teams both look like contenders in the AL Central Division this season with both teams on the heels of front-running Cleveland right now. The pitching matchup in game one of this series will feature Royals' righty Seth Lugo (3-1, 2.03) taking on Tigers' righty Reese Olson (0-3, 3.80). The first pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM EST.
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Royal Revival
The Kansas City Royals head to Detroit on Friday hoping to continue what has been a strong start to the season for the up-and-coming team. The Royals have a young star in SS Bobby Witt Jr., an improving rotation, and a lineup with sneaky power. The Royals have lost three of five games heading into the final game of a four-game series with the Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon. The Royals lost the opener but bounced back with two-straight wins before going for the series win on Thursday. The Royals stole a 2-1 win thanks to a rain-shortened five-inning contest with the Blue Jays. Clinging to a 2-1 lead, the Royals picked up the win after the game was finally called due to a 3 1/2 hour rain delay. Salvador Perez provided the offense with a home run in the win.
The Royals will hand the ball to one of their key offseason signings, starting pitcher Seth Lugo, on Friday afternoon. Lugo has been everything the Royals hoped for and more since signing him away from the Padres this winter. Lugo is 3-1 on the season with an ERA of 2.03 and a WHIP of 1.19 in five starts. Lugo has allowed 30 hits in 31 innings pitched with four quality starts already. He has allowed two home runs while walking seven and striking out 14 batters. Last season, Lugo became an exclusive starter for the Padres and, in 26 starts, he went 8-7 with an ERA of 3.57 and a WHIP of 1.20. He allowed 140 hits in 146.1 innings pitched including 19 home runs. The groundball specialist allowed 36 walks while striking out 140 batters. Lugo had 17 quality starts last season for the Padres.
Key Injuries: SP Alec Marsh, RP Carlos Hernandez, RP Jake Brentz, RP Josh Taylor, and RP Jordan Lyles
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Tigers on the Hunt
The Detroit Tigers look like a team that may be in the AL Central Division hunt for the long haul this season. The Tigers came out of the gates hot, cooled off, and have now bounced back with wins in three of their last five games to improve to 14-11 heading into this series. The Tigers had a chance to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa on Wednesday but fell short in a 7-5 loss. The Tigers finished the road trip at 4-2 and now are an impressive 10-4 on the road this season as they return home to square off against the Royals.
'Well, the series win is nice," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said, “We’re’re happy with the road trip. It doesn’t end well. But keeping things in perspective, we’re doing some good things and we’re winning series, which is key. You want to get greedy when you have the chance to sweep. They came up bigger in the big moments and won the game.”
The Tigers will now try to carry their road success home with them this weekend. Detroit is just 4-7 at home this season despite their dominance on the road. They will hand the ball off to Reese Olson on Friday afternoon. The young righty is 0-3 on the season with an ERA of 3.80 and a WHIP of 1.45. Olson has thrown 21.1 innings while allowing 23 hits without a home run thus far in five starts. He has walked eight batters and struck out 18 this season. In 2023, Olson made 21 appearances including 18 starts. He finished 5-7 with an ERA of 3.99 and a WHIP of 1.12. He allowed just 83 hits in 103.2 innings pitched and had six quality starts. He struck out 103 batters and walked 33 while allowing 14 home runs.
Key Injuries: SS Kevin McGonigle, RP Garrett Hill, 2b Andy Ibanez, CF Seth Stephenson, and 3B Gio Urshela are out.
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Best Bets for this Game
Full-Game Side Bet
Insiders Status:
Rating:
Lugo has been outstanding thus far with four quality starts of his five starts. He's kept the ball on the ground, thus avoiding big innings despite giving up 30 hits in 31 innings of work. He will benefit from a Tigers team that has not hit the ball well at home and keep them in the park thanks to the daunting dimensions at Comerica Park as well as the ability to keep the ball on the ground. The Royals have shown surprising pop despite a relatively no-name lineup this season. They have 28 home runs but, more importantly, they can generate runs with a lineup that has some speed to complement the power. Olson has yet to win a game this season, has a WHIP of 1.45, and has given up more hits than innings pitched thus far. Look for the Royals to generate runs with speed and execution and Lugo to once again stay out of the big inning.
Take KC with the money line.
Prediction: KC ML
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Full-Game Total Pick
Insiders Status:
Rating:
Both these teams are hitting under .240 for the season overall and Comerica Park is not a hitters' haven by any means. It is among the bottom 10 parks in baseball for hitting in the last three seasons heading into 2024. Lugo has an ERA of just over two to start the season and Olson has yet to allow a home run this season. This will be a game that will feature hit and runs, base stealing, and situational hitting to generate runs.
Take the under.
Prediction: Under 8
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Written ByMark Ruelle , "Mark Ruelle"
Mark has been a sports fanatic since childhood. He is also an avid follower of sports analytics and has used it in his own betting analysis for over two decades. Now we have Mark on our team here at Stat Salt. He holds degrees in marketing, broadcasting, and English and uses this vast array of assets to dissect and analyze game matchups. Mark will provide you with a wide variety of statistics to consider and a strong opinion in each matchup that he covers. Please follow him daily for an up-to-the-minute analysis of all the important games.
