It has been a battle for the Royals to get to the .500 mark. That’s the goal for this team that was a season high seven games over .500 on May 7. Since then they’ve gone 26-39 and now start a series with the Detroit Tigers. While the Royals have played well against the AL Central leaders, another sweep would all but knock them out of contention.
The Royals enter the weekend with a five game losing streak that included a three-game sweep in Cleveland just before the All-Star break. The Royals are eight games behind the Tigers.
Ervin Santana will face Detroit for the first time this season. He’s 5-6 with a 3.37 ERA in 18 starts. He’s looking for his first victory against Detroit since June 5, 2009, when he was with the Angels. He’s 6-3 in his career against the Tigers with a 3.59 ERA in 11 starts. He was 0-1 in three games last season.