Detroit Tigers lineup vs. Kansas City Royals: Kerry Carpenter playing RF, Canha at DH
Detroit Tigers (14-12) vs. Kansas City Royals (17-10)
When: 6:10 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Comerica Park in Detroit
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1). (Tigers radio affiliates).
Weather report: High of 78 degrees, 16 mph wind, 5-10% chance of rain.
Probable pitchers: Tigers RHP Casey Mize (1-0, 2.95 ERA) vs. Royals RHP Brady Singer (2-1, 2.76 ERA)
Tigers lineup:
LF Riley Greene
DH Mark Canha
CF Wenceel Pérez
2B Colt Keith
SS Javier Báez
LAST GAME: Detroit Tigers fall to Kansas City Royals, 8-0, after allowing seven runs in ninth inning
Game notes: As Ron Burgundy once said, "Boy, that escalated quickly."
Late into Friday's affair with the Royals, the Tigers were still struggling to get their bats going, but that's not a problem they've been unfamiliar with this year, and they trailed just 1-0. In fact, they've found a way to win in those situations numerous times this year, and have had the best eighth-inning offense in the league. So when Reese Olson and Alex Lange helped the Tigers reach the eighth inning down just 1-0, the game seemed perfectly set up for some more late-inning magic.
Instead, the Tigers left two runners on base when Spencer Torkelson struck out swinging to end the eighth inning, then let the wheels fall off in the top of the ninth inning, surrendering seven runs to the Royals, all but ending the game.
With another highly-touted right-handed pitcher on the mound Saturday, the Tigers will be looking for better closing results, but would be just fine with a similar start on the mound. Trying to make that happen will be Casey Mize, who enters Saturday's coming off back-to-back quality starts (six innings pitched, three earned runs or less).
In a bit of a statistical anomaly, Mize has given up exactly five hits in every start he's made this year, but he's also arguably gotten better with each outing. In his most recent start, Mize didn't surrender a run as the Tigers picked up a key win over division rival Minnesota. The Tigers will need another solid performance from Mize as they'll square off with Brady Singer, who got off to a red-hot start to the season, but did not have his best outing his last time out and will be looking to rebound against the Tigers.
The Tigers' hitters will also be looking for a rebound opportunity after a listless day Friday. Although the Tigers started the season slowly at the plate, they had actually picked things up lately prior to the shutout vs. the Royals. In nine games between April 16 and April 24, the Tigers averaged five runs per game, a marked improvement over their previous production. They'll be looking to get back to that five-run mark, and if Mize keeps pitching like he has been, that should be more than enough production.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lineup vs. Royals: Kerry Carpenter hitting cleanup
