First pitch: Monday, 8:10 p.m. ET
Line: Kansas City -195, Detroit +182, Total: 7

The top team in the American League, the Kansas City Royals, takes on their division rivals, the Detroit Tigers, in the first of three games at Kauffman Stadium on Monday.

It looked like the Tigers were poised for yet another playoff run in 2015 with their stacked lineup and wealth of pitching, but things have gone amiss with the team now sitting 12.5 games out of the divisional lead while things don’t look much better in the wildcard race (5.5 games). They’ve managed to split their last eight games (4-4), including taking 2-of-3 against this Kansas City group at home during that stretch, but are coming off a series loss against the Red Sox most recently. Detroit was outscored 20-11 over three games at home facing Boston and lost 7-2 on Sunday as the offense went 1-for-9 with RISP. The hot hitting continued for 2B Ian Kinsler (.304) though, who is now 21-for-41 (.512) with four doubles, a triple, a home run, six RBIs and 12 runs scored in the last 10 games. The Royals are cruising in the Central division with an 11.5-game lead over their closest competition, but come into this contest with losses in six of their last 11 games. Things look to be coming back together, though, and when the White Sox came into town over the weekend, Kansas City earned a sweep in three games with each margin of victory being just one. They finished off the set with a 5-4 win on Sunday afternoon as they garnered 10 hits and saw the bullpen put up a solid effort (5.2 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 6 K). The offseason acquisition of DH Kendrys Morales (.290) continues to pay off as he hit a two-run homer in Sunday’s victory and is 14-for-38 (.368) with a HR and 12 RBIs in the last 10 games. Making his second start with his new club will be former Blue Jay LHP Matt Boyd (1-2, 7.90 ERA) as he goes against another pitcher with new surroundings in RHP Johnny Cueto (7-7, 2.69 ERA) for the host Royals. The Tigers have actually played slightly better on the road (26-27) than at home this year as that record will be tested against this Royals group which is 37-18 in front of their fans. There have been plenty of tough battles between these two over the last three years and Detroit has gained a 27-21 edge in the series since the start of 2013, taking 13-of-23 games in Kansas City during that time. Things have not changed too much in 2015 as the divisional rivals have split 10 games overall (5-5) and four games at Kauffman Stadium (2-2). Trends show that the Royals are a putrid 0-8 as a home favorite of -175 to -200 in the past two seasons as they have also gone 21-6 (.778) at home when the total is 7.5 or less this year. The big blow for the Tigers is continuing to have 1B Miguel Cabrera (Calf) sidelined as OF Alex Gordon (Groin) remains on the DL for Kansas City.

Boyd played well enough with the Blue Jays to get the call to the big league club and eventually was a piece that was moved to Detroit in order for David Price to head to Toronto. He had 18 starts between double-A and triple-A in which he garnered a 1.10 ERA over 12 starts at New Hampshire before doing well (2.77 ERA) at Buffalo. His strikeout ability is there with more than 8.0 K/9 at each minor league stop since single-A advanced, but has not seen that come to fruition at the major league level with nine strikeouts in his first 13.2 frames (5.9 K/9). In that time he has also allowed five homers (3.29 HR/9) and suffered from hitters owning a .354 BABIP. Boyd earned his first MLB victory in his debut for Detroit, going seven innings and allowing one run on seven hits with two strikeouts (0 walks). That outing was actually against this Kansas City team, and it was 1B Eric Hosmer (2-for-3) and DH Kendrys Morales (2-for-3) who were able to get to the 24-year-old. On the other hand, OF Lorenzo Cain, SS Alcides Escobar, C Salvador Perez and 2B Omar Infante were a combined 0-for-12 in the matchup. The relievers for the Tigers have once again struggled, going 15-15 with a 4.31 ERA (1.45 WHIP) and have saved 27-of-41 (66%) games. With the departure of Joakim Soria, Alex Wilson (1.72 ERA, 2 saves) has taken over the ninth inning duties and earned a save in each of his first two attempts as he comes into this one without allowing a run since July seventh (11.2 IP), giving up a mere six hits with seven strikeouts (3 walks).

Cueto was one of the bigger trade deadline acquisitions this year as he left the Reds, who he played for since 2006, for a chance at a championship ring. His stats have been some of the most consistent in the league over the past four seasons as he’s posted an ERA of 2.85 or better each year while having a BABIP against of .240 or lower in each of the past three. He was never a huge strikeout pitcher, but has mowed down 8.1 batters per nine innings in 2015 and continues to show solid control (2.1 BB/9). His homers allowed (0.69 HR/9) should decrease with the move from a hitter’s park to a pitcher’s park as well. The Royals have lost in each of his first two outings with them, but he has not pitched poorly with two quality starts and has not allowed a HR since June 26th (seven starts). He’s taken on Detroit just twice in his career, going 0-1 (1-1 team record) with a 3.65 ERA (0.97 WHIP) and was on the losing end against them, and Boyd, just five days ago when he threw seven innings of two-run baseball on five hits with two strikeouts (2 walks). Hot hitting 2B Ian Kinsler (2-for-6, 1 double, 1 triple) hasn’t let Cueto slow him down, but the righty has been able to get DH Victor Martinez to go 0-for-9 in the matchup. Once again, the Royals’ bullpen is a big strength and they’ve gone 22-7 with a 2.32 ERA (1.08 WHIP) and are 38-for-53 (72%) in save opportunities. Greg Holland (3.12 ERA, 25 saves) has three blown saves on the year as he has struck out the fewest (10.1 K/9) and walked the most (4.9 BB/9) batters in his career.