Why Tigers vs. Royals Is This Week’s Must-Watch Series
The Tigers and Royals are set to play two more games this week, with all the intrigue to make this the series to watch over the next few days.
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Last season, when the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals met up for a series, it was hardly ever of much consequence. Combined, the two longtime AL Central bottom-dwellers lost 190 games.
The Royals were the worse of the two, dropping 104 contests, but the Tigers were never a threat to make it into October either, watching as the Twins won the AL Central by nine games. Minnesota was the only team in the division to finish over .500.
Last year, the AL Central was long decided by the team we reached this point of the season.
And while the same seems to be true this year, with the Cleveland Guardians five games up with 11 to play, what is happening behind them is far more exciting than anything we witnessed last year.
The Royals are holding onto second place in the AL Central, 2.5 games ahead of the Twins. Then, just behind them, we find the surging Detroit Tigers, who are only 1.5 games behind Minnesota.
Unlike last year, when the AL Central didn’t have any Wild Card teams, this year the division will likely send three teams to the postseason (barring a late surge by the Seattle Mariners). While it long looked like the Royals and Twins would both get in, the Tigers have fully entered the race.
On Monday, they came from behind to beat Seth Lugo and the Royals on the road, winning the first game of a pivotal series by a score of 7-6. Unsurprisingly, the game was hard-fought; these are two teams looking to end playoff droughts that span the better part of a decade.
For the Tigers, their last playoff appearance was ten years ago in 2014. Meanwhile, the Royals haven’t gotten into the dance since they won it all back in 2015.
Now here they are, set to play two more games this week, with great pitching matchups and all the intrigue that makes this the series to watch over the next few days.
Royals-Tigers Game 1 Set the Stage for a Dog Fight
The Kanas City Royals entered this series in the driver’s seat, leading the Detroit Tigers by five games and having already won the season series by taking seven of the first 10 games.
With a packed Kauffman Stadium full of fans looking to see their team bring down its magic number, the stage was set for a great late-September matchup. Having Seth Lugo on the hill and just seven innings away from 200 pitched on the season added even more intrigue.
Lugo put up three zeroes to start the game, and MVP candidate Bobby Witt Jr. came up to the plate in the bottom of the third inning with the bases juiced and just one out. Witt got a curveball up in the zone and didn’t miss, launching it into the seats for an early grand slam.
Stacked to a 4-0 lead, many in the ballpark probably expected Lugo and the Royals to cruise, but the Tigers had far too much fight in them. The two teams traded runs in the fourth, as Zach McKinstry tripled and scored one for the Tigers, while MJ Melendez tripled and scored one for the Royals.
Detroit rallied for three more in the top of the fifth. A Colt Keith two-run homer was the biggest blow that Lugo would allow, ultimately knocking him out of the game seven outs shy of 200 innings pitched on the season.
The Tigers rallied again in the following inning, scoring three runs off the Royals bullpen. Rookie Wenceel Pérez had the biggest hit, driving in two with a double. He later came around to score the winning run.
The game was scoreless from the bottom of the sixth inning onward, and Detroit hung on to win 7-6. Jason Foley recorded the save, his 24th of the season.
Thanks to a Twins loss (at the hands of the Guardians), the Tigers moved up to within 1.5 games of the final AL Wild Card spot.
What To Watch for the Rest of the Royals-Tigers Series
Pitching Matchups
On Tuesday, it will be a battle of young hurlers for the second game in this series. The Tigers will send right-hander Casey Mize to the mound, a former can’t-miss prospect who’s run into a slew of health problems over the years.
The Tigers selected Mize, now 27, in the first round of the 2018 draft. He has one full season of starts under his belt in the big leagues, although that was back in 2021. This year, he’s sporting a 4.47 ERA through 19 starts, but his 3.97 FIP suggests he’s been better than his ERA looks.
Opposite Mize will be Royals co-ace Cole Ragans, who continues to be money for Kansas City. The 26-year-old made his first All-Star Game this year and sports a 3.32 ERA, 2.99 FIP and 128 ERA+ through 30 outings this season. His 11.0 K/9 leads the AL, and he’s going to be a tough foe for this surging Tigers offense.
In case you don’t get enough pitching in Tuesday’s game, Wednesday will feature another great matchup. Tarik Skubal, the likely AL Cy Young Award winner, will take the mound for Detroit opposite Alec Marsh, who’s coming off of an impressive 11-strikeout showing against the Pirates last week.
Skubal currently leads the league in wins, ERA, strikeouts, ERA+, and FIP. He’s been utterly dominant all year long. An interesting fact to note here, though, is that he has a 4.91 ERA in three starts against the Royals this year, which is his highest ERA against any team he’s faced more than once.
The 26-year-old Marsh is still working to prove himself at the big league level, but his numbers have looked better in four starts since he returned from an optional assignment to the minor leagues at the end of July.
The right-hander has allowed three runs or fewer in all four outings so far, pitching to a 3.60 ERA over 20 innings. He also put up a 1.80 ERA in four starts at Triple-A in August.
Postseason Implications
The Royals still hold a four-game lead over the Tigers. That means Detroit could sweep this series and Kansas City would still be up by two games.
On the other hand, the Royals could all but secure a postseason berth with a series win. If they take the next two games against their division rivals, they will hold a six-game lead over Detroit with nine left to play.
What’s more, the fact that the Royals have already won the season series provides them with a bit of extra protection. If the two teams are tied at the end of the regular season, KC will come out on top.
All that to say, the Tigers could really use a win here. Losing this series won’t entirely destroy their postseason chances, but they’ll have to hope the Twins continue to struggle over their final 12 games of the season. It doesn’t help that they’ve already lost the season series to Minnesota, too.
A Must-Watch Matchup
Logical reasoning will tell you no regular season game is more important than any other. Every win counts the same in the standings. A loss on Opening Day is no worse than a loss at the end of the year.
Clearly, logical reasoning never met late-September baseball.
This could prove to be the most pivotal series in the Kansas City Royals’ storybook season. It could also be the series that ultimately sinks the surging Detroit Tigers.
If you like to watch up-and-coming stars on exciting young teams competing in some of the most meaningful ballgames of the regular season, this matchup is the must-watch series of the week.