The Detroit Tigers leapfrogged the Kansas City Royals for the AL Central lead as they won the opener of a three game set 6-5 last night. The Royals can't be too happy about that, and I expect another close encounter at Comerica Park this afternoon.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The Royals will hand the ball to Jeremy Guthrie (1-2, 6.52 ERA) who's off to slow start to the season, but keep in mind that the Royals still have won three of this five starts on the year. He was torched for six runs on 11 hits over six innings in a 6-4 home-loss against the Tigers his last start but was relieved by a bullpen that ranks among the best in the league who came in and threw three scoreless innings. The Tigers will counter with Anibal Sanchez (2-3, 5.11 ERA) who gave up three runs on four hits over 7 1/3 innings when pitching against Guthrie and the Royals his last start. His last start of the year came at home when he surrendered nine runs on nine hits with two homers and two walks over just 3 1/3 innings in a 12-3 loss against the White Sox.

2. Bounce Back Potential - The Royals are 4-1 in their last five following a loss and 13-3 in their last 16 after allowing five runs or more in their previous game.

3. X-Factor - The Tigers are just 1-7 in Sanchez's last 8 starts as a home favorite of -110 to -150.

Selection: This is a play on the Kansas City Royals +1.5 (8*)