MLB Baseball
2012-05-02 - Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Wednesday 2 May 2012 - First Pitch 1:05pm ET
6:05pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
The Detroit Tigers (12-11) won the first game of this series last night after the initial Game 1 was cancelled due to rain on Monday evening. That means they can wrap up the series against the Kansas City Royals (6-16) and win their second series against their American League Central rivals this season.
Detroit got after Kansas City early last night, scoring 5 runs in the first inning and going on to record a 9-3 win. They will feel plenty confident that they won't need to score so many runs today as they send their ace pitcher, Justin Verlander, to the mound in the hope that he has recovered from his last start.
Verlander is 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA this season, but he was hit for 5 runs in 6 innings pitched against the New York Yankees in his last start. However, he has struggled in the Bronx in recent starts and will feel much more comfortable at Comerica Park where he has allowed just 4 earned runs from 22 innings pitched.
The pitcher also threw a complete game against the Royals earlier this season to continue his dominance over them. Verlander is 14-2 with a 2.37 ERA in his career against them, improving that to 5-0 in 7 career starts against them at home. He has won his last 5 starts against the Royals with a 1.86 ERA.
Kansas City know they are going to have a tough time at the plate scoring runs, so they need Jonathan Sanchez to find some control from the mound if they are to have any chance in this one. Sanchez is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA this season and he struggled in his last start by allowing 4 runs and issuing 7 walks in under 5 innings pitched against the Cleveland Indians.
The pitcher allowed 2 runs and issued 3 walks in 5 innings against the Tigers earlier this season, the first time he had faced Detroit since 2008.
Head to Head
Detroit have already won all 4 games they have played against Kansas City this season, and they have now improved to 7-2 in the last 9 games in the series.
The Tigers are 5-2 in their last 7 home games against Kansas City after last nights win.
Detroit are 7-7 at home, Kansas City are 6-6 on the road.
Prediction
The run line is a little shorter than I would usually go for, but I think the Detroit Tigers bats may just be warming up a little bit and it is worth taking on today.
Detroit have now scored 28 runs in the last 5 games they have played and they will have opportunities against Jonathan Sanchez, particularly if he is as helpful with his walks as he has been in recent starts. Those walks extend innings, putting more pressure on the pitcher to get ground ball outs and Sanchez may feel a little more as Justin Verlander is unlikely to be so generous.
Verlander has dominated the Kansas City bats at Comerica Park in the past, and he has been pitching well enough here all season to suggest he will be able to limit the runs again.
I just feel if the Tigers can put up 4 or 5 runs, they should be able to cover the run line and the 1.85 is reasonable if a little tight from the layers.
The Pick :
Detroit Tigers 4-1 Kansas City Royals
