Royals aim to stop 5-game skid, take on the Tigers

Kansas City Royals (8-13, third in the AL Central) vs. Detroit Tigers (12-8, first in the AL Central)

Detroit; Saturday, 1:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Seth Lugo (1-2, 3.86 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 16 strikeouts); Tigers: Casey Mize (2-1, 2.60 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 15 strikeouts)

Tigers -127, Royals +106; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals, on a five-game losing streak, play the Detroit Tigers.

Detroit is 12-8 overall and 7-1 at home. Tigers pitchers have a collective 3.31 ERA, which ranks fifth in MLB play.

Kansas City has a 2-9 record in road games and an 8-13 record overall. The Royals have gone 6-3 in games when they did not allow a home run.

Saturday's game is the third time these teams meet this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Spencer Torkelson has seven doubles and six home runs for the Tigers. Kerry Carpenter is 12-for-33 with two doubles, two home runs and two RBI over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with a .313 batting average, and has nine doubles, two home runs, nine walks and eight RBI. Vinnie Pasquantino is 8-for-37 with a home run and three RBI over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 6-4, .234 batting average, 2.69 ERA, outscored opponents by 13 runs

Royals: 2-8, .188 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by 26 runs

INJURIES: Tigers: Parker Meadows: 60-Day IL (arm), Beau Brieske: 15-Day IL (ankle), Wenceel Perez: 60-Day IL (spine), Jake Rogers: 10-Day IL (oblique), Manuel Margot: 10-Day IL (knee), Ty Madden: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alexander Miller Cobb: 15-Day IL (hip), Matt Vierling: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Sawyer Gipson-Long: 60-Day IL (hip), Alex Lange: 60-Day IL (lat)

Royals: Hunter Harvey: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Sam Long: 15-Day IL (elbow), Mark David Canha: 10-Day IL (hip), Dairon Blanco: 10-Day IL (achilles), Kyle Wright: 15-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 15-Day IL (elbow), Alec Marsh: 15-Day IL (shoulder)

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