The Detroit Tigers have looked pretty darn good these past couple of weeks, having won eight of their last 10 games coming into Saturday’s tilt against the Kansas City Royals. Both teams entered the series with momentum behind them but the Motor City Kitties emerged victorious in the opening game Friday night, 7-5. Now, the good guys have a chance to take their second series win in a row as well as the third of their last four.
Saturday’s pitching matchup should be a good one, as Detroit sends its ace to the mound while Kansas City has one of its premier pitching prospects toeing the rubber. Grab your popcorn and peanuts, folks, this should be a good one.
Time/Place: 4:10 p.m., Kauffman Stadium
SB Nation site: Royals Review
Media: Bally Sports Detroit, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Matthew Boyd (2-4, 2.45 ERA) vs. RHP Brady Singer (1-3, 3.96 ERA)
Game 45 Pitching Matchup
| Pitcher | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitcher | IP | K% | BB% | FIP | fWAR |
| Boyd | 47.2 | 19.5 | 5.3 | 3.07 | 1.4 |
| Singer | 38.2 | 23.5 | 8.8 | 3.55 | 0.7 |
Matthew Boyd continues his renaissance season with the Tigers, having traded strikeouts for weak contact, which has paid off handsomely so far. However, in his last start against the Chicago Cubs, the veteran left-hander tossed his first real stinker of the 2021 season, managing to last seven innings despite giving up five runs — four earned — on six hits and a walk over 92 pitches while surrendering his second home run of the year; he also struck out eight batters. The outing was very reminiscent of the old Matty Boyd and hopefully he got all of that out of his system last week.
The last time the Tigers saw Brady Singer was two starts ago on May 11, when Detroit touched him up for four runs on seven hits in 3 1⁄3 innings, though he did manage to strike out four over 85 pitches. Prior to that, the young right-hander had faced the Olde English D on April 24, in which he threw a gem to earn his lone win this year, tossing a season-high seven innings while allowing just one run — a solo dinger — on three hits while striking out eight over 93 pitches.
In the one game since the 24-year-old last saw the Tigers, Singer had a solid outing against the Chicago White Sox, throwing 6 1⁄3 innings allowing two runs on seven hits — including a home run — while striking out seven over 102 pitches. Which Brady Singer will show up in Kauffman Stadium on Saturday? We will find out soon enough.
Key Matchup: Royals vs. the Tigers’ Malek-Lite
It seems that every time I write about a matchup that should be a pitcher’s duel, it turns out to be anything but. Back when I was a kid, there used to be a Budweiser product called Bud Dry and the television commercial for this product had the signature catch-phrase, “Why ask why?” For today’s key matchup, I’m invoking the seven-run rule — if Detroit can plate seven runners, the day will be theirs. Why ask why?