The Tigers are five games under .500 and traded their two-time Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, to the Dodgers at the trade deadline. And yet, they are just 1.5 games back of a Wild Card spot in what has become a race for mediocrity. The team has lost six of their last eight, and have a tough six-game homestand against the Rays and Dodgers following their weekend at Kauffman Stadium.
Detroit Tigers (61-66) vs. Kansas City Royals (55-74) at Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO
Tigers: 4.54 runs scored/game (12th in MLB), 3.90 runs allowed/game (6th)
Royals: 4.19 runs scored/game (22nd), 4.97 runs allowed/game (27th)
The Tigers have 28 blown saves, second-most in baseball. Kenley Jansen blew a lead in his last outing against the Pirates, but he did not allow a run in any of his nine outings in July. Overall he has 16 saves in 21 opportunities. Kyle Finnegan has the tenth-highest FIP of any qualified reliever.
The Royals have dropped six of ten to the Tigers this year, although they took two out of three from them at home back in early May. At 8.5 games out of the Wild Card race, the Royals are too far away to realistically get back in it. But they can certainly play a spoiler to what has been an underwhelming Tigers squad.