8* Kansas City (8:10 ET): This is a revenge game for the Royals, who were swept here at home by Detroit last month. The Tigers come into this series playing their best ball of the season as they are 7-0 since the All-Star Break. But they are still four games below .500. That’s a lot better than where the Royals are at (16 games below .500), but - despite what happened last month - I remain skeptical of the Tigers’ ability to get the job done on the road, where they are 19-29 this season (and 55-102 the L3 seasons!) It’s telling that KC is the money line favorite for this series opener.

The Royals do come into this game on a two-game win streak. Those wins came in Milwaukee as +170 and +140 underdogs, which is impressive. The Brewers are the first place team in the NL Central and top five in all of MLB in fewest runs allowed. So the fact KC was able to score 11 times in two games certainly deserves a “tip of the cap.” The Tigers give up 5.5 rpg on the road and the entirety of their current seven-game win streak has come at home. The last time they hit the road, they were swept in Minnesota.

A nice edge for the Royals coming into today’s game is that they had Thursday off. They are 9-5 this season when playing with a day off. Meanwhile, the Tigers had to hold off the Rangers in a game where they got seven runs on just seven hits. I realize today’s starting pitching matchup seems to favor Detroit, but the Royals are 4-0 at home this season when Kris Bubic starts. The Tigers aren’t a great team by any means and thus this win streak of theirs is due to end sooner rather than later. Tonight sounds about right. 8* Kansas City