PREMIUM
Rogers' AFTERNOON ANNIHILATION >> EARLY!
(MLB) Kansas City vs. Detroit,
Total: 8.50 | -105.00 Under
Result: Push
Total: 8.50 | -105.00 Under
Result: Push
The set-up: The 1-3 Kansas City Royals dropped a 6-1 decision on Monday in Detroit but battled through the inclement weather on Tuesday to earn their first win of the young season 1-0 behind seven strong innings from right-hander Jakob Junis. The 1-4 Tigers had earned their first win in the series opener but managed just three hits on Tuesday in the team's second 1-0 loss of the season. Detroit pitchers have allowed a total of just 10 hits over the first two games of the series (along with only two runs), with starters Francisco Liriano and Matthew Boyd each turning in quality starts. However, the series stands at one game apiece as the two clubs square off in the rubber game of this series this afternoon.
The pitching matchup: Danny Duffy (0-1, 11.25 ERA) will get the nod for KC and Daniel Norris (2017: 5-8, 5.31) for Detroit, in a battle of lefties. Duffy breezed through the first three innings scoreless on Opening Day against the Chicago White Sox but served up three HRs in a five-run fourth inning and ended up being charged with five runs and seven hits in four innings. The HR ball was not an issue for Duffy last year, as he allowed 13 HRs in 146 1/3 innings. Duffy had an excellent 2016 season (he was 12-3 with a 3.651 ERA and KC was 17-9 in his 26 starts, going plus-$648 vs. the moneyline) but he couldn't repeat his 2016 season, going 9-10 with a 3.81 ERA last year. Duffy went 2-1 with a 5.17 ERA and 21 hits allowed in 15 2/3 total innings spread across three starts against Detroit in 2017. Daniel Norris threw a career-high 101 2/3 innings in 22 games - 18 starts - for the Tigers last season but missed nearly two months with a groin injury in July and August. Norris faced talk all spring of not making the team because he was the only on-the-bubble starter with an option remaining.
The pick: Norris ended last season by holding Kansas City to two hits in five scoreless innings back on Sep. 28. He could use that kind of effort again here, as he could be "looking over his shoulder." Mike Fiers, signed over the winter but slowed by a stiff back this spring, threw 83 pitches in a minor league game at the team's spring training facility on Monday and is expected to join the Detroit rotation this weekend. Then again, whose to say Norris is up to the challenge and he can hardly expect to rely on the Detroit bullpen to bail him out (Tigers own a 6.05 bullpen ERA). Trusting Duffy isn't high on my list either, so let's make the Over an 8* play.
The pitching matchup: Danny Duffy (0-1, 11.25 ERA) will get the nod for KC and Daniel Norris (2017: 5-8, 5.31) for Detroit, in a battle of lefties. Duffy breezed through the first three innings scoreless on Opening Day against the Chicago White Sox but served up three HRs in a five-run fourth inning and ended up being charged with five runs and seven hits in four innings. The HR ball was not an issue for Duffy last year, as he allowed 13 HRs in 146 1/3 innings. Duffy had an excellent 2016 season (he was 12-3 with a 3.651 ERA and KC was 17-9 in his 26 starts, going plus-$648 vs. the moneyline) but he couldn't repeat his 2016 season, going 9-10 with a 3.81 ERA last year. Duffy went 2-1 with a 5.17 ERA and 21 hits allowed in 15 2/3 total innings spread across three starts against Detroit in 2017. Daniel Norris threw a career-high 101 2/3 innings in 22 games - 18 starts - for the Tigers last season but missed nearly two months with a groin injury in July and August. Norris faced talk all spring of not making the team because he was the only on-the-bubble starter with an option remaining.
The pick: Norris ended last season by holding Kansas City to two hits in five scoreless innings back on Sep. 28. He could use that kind of effort again here, as he could be "looking over his shoulder." Mike Fiers, signed over the winter but slowed by a stiff back this spring, threw 83 pitches in a minor league game at the team's spring training facility on Monday and is expected to join the Detroit rotation this weekend. Then again, whose to say Norris is up to the challenge and he can hardly expect to rely on the Detroit bullpen to bail him out (Tigers own a 6.05 bullpen ERA). Trusting Duffy isn't high on my list either, so let's make the Over an 8* play.
