Merrifield brings hit streak into matchup with Detroit
Posted Sep 20, 2018 04:10:40 AM.
Last Updated Sep 20, 2018 04:40:43 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Kansas City Royals (52-100, fifth in AL Central) vs. Detroit Tigers (61-91, third in AL Central)
Detroit; Thursday, 7:10 p.m. Eastern
PROBABLE PITCHERS: Royals: Jorge Lopez (2-4, 3.93 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 38 strikeouts) Tigers: Matthew Boyd (9-12, 4.08 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 155 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Kansas City hopes Whit Merrifield can keep his hot-hitting ways alive as he takes a 10-game hitting streak into the matchup with Detroit on Thursday. The Tigers enter the matchup as losers of their last three games. Detroit has allowed just 2.6 runs per game in Boyd’s starts. The Royals are 3-3 in games started by Lopez. Kansas City is hitting a collective .245 this season, led by Merrifield’s mark of .301. In their last meeting on Aug. 29, Danny Duffy earned the win in a 9-2 victory for the Royals.
TOP PERFORMERS: Salvador Perez is batting .234 with a .271 on-base percentage and .442 slugging percentage in 120 games this season for the Royals. Adalberto Mondesi has three home runs and eight RBIs while slugging .614 over his past 10 games for Kansas City. Nicholas Castellanos is batting .297 with a .349 on-base percentage and .491 slugging percentage in 147 games this season for the Tigers. Mikie Mahtook has eight RBIs and two home runs over his past 10 games for Detroit.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 5-5, .273 batting average, 3.73 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs. Tigers: 2-8, .198 batting average, 5.16 ERA, outscored by 31 runs.
TIGERS INJURIES: Jose Iglesias has been transferred to the 60-day disabled list on Friday.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.
