Royals face struggling Tigers, aim for seventh consecutive win

WEB DESK: The Detroit Tigers are battling for a playoff spot in the American League, but it is the Kansas City Royals—18 games below .500—who are currently playing like postseason contenders.

With Michael Wacha looking to continue his strong 2026 form against the struggling Tigers, the host Royals will aim to extend their season-high winning streak to seven games on Saturday night.

Kansas City sits at the bottom of the AL Central, but the Royals have scored 36 runs during their six-game winning streak, with their last five victories coming at home.

In Friday’s series opener, Vinnie Pasquantino, Kyle Isbel and Carter Jensen each hit solo home runs, while Noah Cameron delivered five scoreless innings to lead the Royals to a 5-2 victory over Detroit.

“It’s more just showing ourselves who we are,” Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said.

“What we’ve done this year is not who we are, who we believe we are, so we just got to go out there and be ourselves and win games.”

The Royals are 15-4 in their past 19 home games.

“Things have been clicking a little bit,” Pasquantino, who is batting .415 with two homers over his past 11 games, told Royals.TV.

“The (home) environment has been great, we’ve been playing really well, and we just want to keep it going.”

Wacha (6-8, 3.58 ERA), meanwhile, allowed four runs on three homers over five innings on Monday against the Athletics, but he earned his first winning decision since June 22.

However, the veteran right-hander has posted a 3-3 record with a 2.92 ERA in 12 career starts versus Detroit. In two starts against the Tigers this season, he’s been even better while allowing two runs over 14 innings to record two of his 16 quality starts in a pair of Royals wins.

Detroit is among seven teams with a serious shot at the final AL wild-card spot, but has lost three straight and six of the last seven contests. The Tigers have managed just six runs in the past three.

On Friday, Detroit batters walked seven times, but the Tigers stranded 11 runners on base.

“You can’t dwell on it, because it’s going to compound if you keep dwelling on it,” catcher Dillon Dingler, 3-for-53 with 15 strikeouts in his past 13 games, told the Tigers’ official website.

Pressed into Detroit’s rotation following the trades of Tarik Skubal and Casey Mize, Drew Anderson (4-4, 4.01) is scheduled to make his fourth consecutive start Saturday. As he works to add length as a starter, the right-hander has posted a 2.84 ERA in those starts, despite yielding three runs, four hits and two walks over five innings Sunday against the Chicago White Sox.

Anderson struggled in three relief appearances versus Kansas City this season, allowing seven runs and nine hits over 3 1/3 innings. However, the Tigers won all three meetings.

Witt and Pasquantino are a combined 3-for-4 against Anderson this season.

Detroit’s Kevin McGonigle is 0-for-5 against Wacha this season. However, after recording two hits Friday, he is batting .371 with eight RBIs during an eight-game road hitting streak.