First pitch: Monday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Kansas City +130, Detroit -140, Total: 9.0

The Royals will be looking to keep moving things in a positive direction when they face the Tigers on Monday.

The Royals dug themselves a huge hole with a lousy first half of the year, but the team is now trying to make a late push for an AL Wild Card spot. The Royals are 7.5 games back, but this is a team that won the World Series last season and it’s impossible to put a huge run past it. The Tigers, meanwhile, have now won two straight games and they could use some more victories after losing five in a row before beating the Rangers 2-0 on Aug. 12. The starters in this Monday matchup will be RHP Ian Kennedy (6-9, 3.91 ERA, 134 K) for Kansas City and LHP Daniel Norris (1-0, 4.00 ERA, 19 K) for Detroit. It’s worth noting that the Royals are 26-14 against the money line in August games over the past two seasons. Kansas City is, however, a lousy 2-16 against the money line as a road underdog of +125 to +150 this season. The Royals also remain without RP Wade Davis (Hip), but he should be making his return pretty soon for the team.

Ian Kennedy had struggled early in the season for the Royals, but he has been on fire for the team lately. Over the past three starts, Kennedy has allowed just two earned runs in 19.1 innings of work. One thing he has been doing is avoiding the long ball. He had allowed four homers in a Jul. 20 meeting with the Indians, and has allowed just one total in the past four games. If Kennedy can keep the ball in the park on Monday then the Royals will have a good shot at taking this one. Offensively, OF Lorenzo Cain (.279, 8 HR, 46 RBI) is somebody to watch in this one. He went 4-for-4 with a double and three RBI on Sunday and will be hoping to stay hot coming into this one. Kansas City does, however, need 1B Eric Hosmer (.274, 15 HR, 65 RBI) to turn things around soon. He has not homered since Jul. 31 and is the Royals’ most consistent source of production at the plate. It’d be big if he can start to get things rolling with a solid performance against Detroit.

Daniel Norris will be making the start for Detroit on Monday and he actually performed very well his last time out. Norris started against the Mariners on Aug. 9 and threw five innings of one-run ball. The Tigers aren’t expecting the lefty to work very deep into this game, but they’d be extremely happy if he can turn in a quality start. They have the offense to make up for it and Kennedy can be extremely hittable on most nights. The guys to watch out for in this lineup are 3B Miguel Cabrera (.311, 27 HR, 77 RBI) and 2B Ian Kinsler (.290, 22 HR, 63 RBI). Both have really done well against Kennedy in their careers, combining to go 12-for-24 with six doubles, a homer and six RBI versus the righty. Another guy that could produce in this one is OF Cameron Maybin (.325, 2 HR, 29 RBI). Maybin is 6-for-20 with a triple and two RBI against Kennedy and should be able to help provide some runs in this one too. He has decent power into the gaps and the speed to make his opponents pay as well.