With wins in two of the last three games of their final series against the Chicago White Sox, the Royals jeopardized the AL Central leaders' playoff hopes and allowed the Tigers to close the gap in the division. After losing to Detroit on Monday night, the Royals have a pair of opportunities to throw a similar wrench in the plans of the Tigers, beginning on Tuesday night.
In the first of the back-to-back wins against the White Sox that began on Wednesday night, Royals pitcher Bruce Chen held the opposing team scoreless until he was pulled in the seventh inning. Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland finished up the shutout effort. Now Chen will take the mound again on Tuesday night as he tries to earn one more win to even his 2012 record at 12-12.
To get the win, Chen will have to hope that the Royals batters can find success against Tigers pitcher Anibal Sanchez. The end of the season has been rough for Sanchez, as he has earned losses in five of his last eight starts, including one on Thursday when he allowed five runs in less than six innings to the Oakland A's.
The first pitch at Comerica Park is scheduled to be thrown at 6:05 p.m. CT and will be televised on Fox Sports Kansas City and Fox Sports Detroit.
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