First pitch: Thursday, 8:10 p.m. ET
Line: Detroit -110, Kansas City +100, Total: 8

In one of the better new rivalries in baseball, the Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals kick off a four-game series on Thursday night.

It has been another successful start to a season for the Tigers as they lead the AL Central and come into the game with victories in four of their past five contests. They were able to get back on track after losing 3-of-4 to the Yankees with series wins against both Cleveland and Minnesota as they put up 27 runs in their most recent four wins. They finished off the set against the Twins with a nice 10-7, come-from-behind win in which they tallied seven runs in the final four innings and totaled 17 hits with eight going for extra bases. The two homers by 1B Miguel Cabrera (.370) were the clinchers in the win and he is 7-for-16 with a double, three long balls, seven RBIs and two runs in the past four contests. The Royals are doing a great job at proving their 2014 World Series run was no mistake as they are just a half game behind Detroit in the Central and are coming off a solid series win against the Indians on the road to start the week. They put up 22 runs in the three games against Cleveland, but were unable to finish off the sweep on Wednesday, losing 7-5. The pitching staff had more walks (5) than strikeouts (3) in the loss as each of the first seven batters on the offensive end managed to get a hit. With at least one hit in his last four games, 3B Mike Moustakas (.353) has proven to be a reliable option when at the plate and is 15-for-35 (.429) in the last eight outings. The start in this game will go to RHP Alfredo Simon (4-0, 1.65 ERA) for the Tigers as he goes toe-to-toe with LHP Danny Duffy (1-0, 4.15 ERA) of Kansas City. Detroit’s win on Wednesday brought its road record to 7-2 on the year as the Royals have an identical record when at Kauffman Stadium. The Tigers have been able to get the best of Kansas City over the past few years with a record of 22-16 (.579) in the matchup as they are 11-8 on the road. Some trends to watch include that Simon’s teams have gone 18-3 in the first half of the season since the beginning of last year as the Royals are 63-38 (.624) when the money line is +125 to -125 in the same timeframe. The only injury for either team that may affect the outcome is to OF Alex Rios (Hand) of Kansas City who is currently on the 15-day DL.

Simon really took off last season with the Reds as he totaled 15 wins behind a 3.44 ERA despite striking out a mere 5.8 batters per nine innings. His control is what gets him wins and his walk numbers have continued to improve over the last four seasons as his strikeouts decline. He has continued to play well with his move to the Tigers and the American League with wins in each of his first four starts as he has allowed a meager five runs in 27.1 IP. He once again isn’t really mowing anybody down (4.9 K/9), but has improved his control (1.3 BB/9) even more. Simon has just one career start against Kansas City and he was able to get a win as he threw seven innings of four hit, one run ball with three strikeouts (1 walk). OF Alex Gordon (1-for-5) went for a homer and three RBIs with his one hit against the righty as 1B Eric Hosmer (2-for-4, 2 runs) has also done well while 3B Mike Moustakas is 0-for-3 in the matchup. The Tigers bullpen has improved over the past few years and is currently 3-1 with a 3.99 ERA (1.24 WHIP) as they’ve successfully saved 10-of-11 games. Joakim Soria (1.69 ERA, 9 saves) will be the ninth inning man as Joe Nathan went under the knife and so far the former Kansas City closer is perfect in his nine save attempts as he’s given up five hits in 10.2 frames.

Duffy has always been an intriguing left-handed prospect for the Royals and things really started coming together for him last season when he posted a 2.53 ERA over 149.1 innings. He increased his control by allowing his strikeout numbers to suffer and benefited from opposing batters going .239 BABIP against him. This year he continues to improve his control and has 2.9 BB/9 so far as he has forced hitters to put it on the ground 41.8% of the time. He’s already had plenty of experience against this Detroit club and is 1-6 (3-6 team record) with a 3.42 ERA (1.12 WHIP) as his team lost in each of his three starts against the Tigers last year. Of course 1B Miguel Cabrera (5-for-18, 3 doubles, 4 RBI) has given him the most trouble while 2B Ian Kinsler and OF J.D. Martinez are a combined 4-for-18, but have each gone deep against the lefty. The bullpen for Kansas City was one of the big reasons they represented the AL in the World Series last year and they have once again been phenomenal with a 6-1 record, 1.04 ERA (0.77 WHIP) and are 8-for-11 in saves. Wade Davis (0.00 ERA, 4 saves) has filled in exceptionally well for Greg Holland while he’s injured and has gone a perfect 4-for-4 in save opportunities behind a 10:1 K/BB ratio and two hits allowed over 9.0 innings.