Detroit at Kansas City

The last time we faded the Royals they were on their 9th win. Guess what? They are still on their 9th win. If a game was played in three innings instead of nine, the Royals would have a decent record. Their starting pitching has been decent overall but their achilles heel continues to be the horrid bullpen that is somehow allowed to suit up and play with the team. Two days ago, taking a 4-1 lead into the 2nd half of the game, the bullpen collapsed and a good performance from Hernandez went to waste as they lost 8-5. The Tigers on the other hand are 32-14 and send Maroth to the mound who has pitched exceptionally well this year as they are 5-2 with a 2.45 ERA. Against KC this year he went six innings and gave up just 1 earned run on 4 hits to pick up a win earlier this season. Bautista to his credit has pitched well this season but the fact remains, Maroth has pitched many more innings this year and has gone deeper into games. Bautista's longest outing this year was 6 innings which means the KC bullpen at least rolls in for 3 innings. Here we have the pitching edge, the hitting edge and clear bullpen edge with the Tigers. And, the Tigers are 10-1 as a road favorite and the Royals are 0-7 of late against left-handed pitching.