Royals, Kyle Isbel vie to stay hot, sweep struggling Tigers

Despite sitting last in the American League Central, the Kansas City Royals are playing their best baseball of the season.

Meanwhile, the Detroit Tigers haven't done much lately to help their postseason push.

Winners of a season-high seven games in a row, the host Royals will try on Sunday afternoon to complete a three-game series sweep of the Tigers, who have dropped four straight contests.

Kansas City improved to 6-0 on a seven-game homestand with a 3-1 victory over Detroit on Saturday. Kyle Isbel homered for the second straight contest, and Michael Wacha yielded a run and three hits over seven strong innings for the Royals, who are amid a 16-4 stretch at home.

"It's been incredible; the energy in the clubhouse has been great, and we've got to keep it going," Isbel, who is 6-for-20 with five RBIs in his last six games, told Royals.TV.

He is batting .313 with five RBIs in five home games against the Tigers this season.

Kansas City has five solo home runs while outscoring Detroit 8-3 in the first two games of this series.

Kansas City's Daniel Lynch IV (4-4, 2.83 ERA) will make his fourth start since joining the rotation. After allowing six earned runs over four innings of his first two starts this season, the left-hander yielded a run, two hits and two walks over four innings in his team's 4-3 victory over the Athletics on Tuesday.

Lynch, who has a 3.00 ERA in four 2026 relief appearance vs. Detroit, is 3-3 with a 4.79 ERA in eight starts against the Tigers, the most recent one in 2023.

A loser in seven of the last eight games overall, Detroit has totaled only seven runs during its current four-game slide. The Tigers, trying to remain a serious contender for an AL wild-card spot, have just nine hits at Kansas City this weekend.

"Our mindset will never change just because of a bad stretch," infielder Kevin McGonigle told the Tigers' official website. "I think the best thing we can do right now is go out and play hard and try to win as many baseball games as we can and see what happens."

Despite Detroit's struggles, rookie Hao-Yu Lee homered on Saturday and is 9-for-22 with four RBIs in his last 10 games. He's batting the same .409 with two homers and five RBIs in nine games against the Royals this season.

Detroit's Javier Baez is 1-for-18 in his last five games but 6-for-16 with a home run and double vs. Lynch.

The Tigers are slotted for a bullpen game Sunday after pushing scheduled starter Framber Valdez back to Monday vs. Tampa Bay. It's a move that also allows inconsistent fellow rotation member Keider Montero to get extra rest going forward.

While it's uncertain who will draw the opener role on Sunday, touted prospect Andrew Sears has been called up from Triple-A Toledo and is expected to make his major league debut as a potential bulk option.

"He pitches with some intensity; he's got real weapons," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of the 23-year-old left-hander, who had 9 2/3 scoreless innings in two appearances for Toledo.

"His stuff is going to play very well here."

--Field Level Media