Game Fifty-One: Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals

It’s a battle of aces.

The representatives of Paws from Detroit will take on the representatives of Sluggerrr from Kansas City this afternoon to complete this three-game set. Kansas City has outscored Detroit 18-6 on the way to decisive wins in the first two games of the series. They will go for the sweep today at Kauffman Stadium.

Cole Ragans will take the mound for the Royals. Ragans has been much more effective this season than his 3.70 ERA implies. He’s put up a couple seven-run stinkers, but in his eight other starts, he has a 1.69 ERA and has completed the sixth inning in six of them. He is coming off his best start of the season, striking out seven batters across seven shutout innings while allowing just four baserunners last Friday against Oakland. Ragans last pitched against Detroit in his final start of 2023, allowing four runs in 6.1 innings.

Detroit will counter with a lefty ace of their own, Tarik Skubal. After missing most of the first half of 2023 with injury, Skubal returned and made 15 dominant starts last year and has kept that going this year. He has a 2.39 ERA in 24 starts since returning from injury and a 1.80 mark in his nine starts this season. It’s hard to poke holes in his performance so far — I’d expect him to remain firmly in the Cy Young discussion this season. Skubal pitched against Kansas City on April 28 and allowed just one run in seven innings.

First pitch: 1:10 pm CDT

Royals lineup

Tigers lineup