The Kansas City Royals are sitting top of the AL Central as they visit second placed Detroit Tigers for the opener of a three game set tonight. The teams split a four-game set at Kansas City last week and I expect another tight set here in Motor City and think the Royals are coming in undervalued here.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Royals will hand the ball to Yordano Ventura (2-2, 4.94 ERA) who's been rather inconsistent so far on the year. He's held opponents to two runs or less in three of his five starts though and was 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA against the Tigers last year. The Tigers will counter with Dave Price (3-1, 2.93 ERA) who's off two solid outings away from home, the most recent a a complete game at Kansas City on May 2, but he was smoked for eight runs on 10 hits lasting just 2 1/3 innings his last start at Comerica Park. He'll be put to the test again tonight trying to slow down a Royals offense that is leading the majors with a .290 batting average and coming off a 12 hit performance in last night's 7-4 win against the Tribe.

2. Kansas City's Bullpen - The Royals bullpen ranks second in the majors on the season with a combined 1.57 ERA over 97 2/3 innings of work. Detroit's bullpen has an ERA of 4.00 even so Detroit will be in a bad spot if Price gets in trouble early on in the game.

3. X-Factor - The Royals are 8-1 in Ventura's last nine road starts and the Tigers are just 1-4 in their last five when hosting a team with a right-handed starter.

Selection: This is a play on the Kansas City Royals (8*)