Tigers look to stay hot vs. reeling Royals

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Surprisingly dominant pitching has carried the Detroit Tigers to a strong start. Journeyman left-hander Matt Moore will try to keep that trend going when the Tigers host Kansas City in the second game of a three-game series on Saturday.

The Tigers have scored just 17 runs but have won five of their first eight games, including the last three. They tallied a season-high five runs in a one-run victory in their home opener on Thursday.

Moore, who is pitching for his fourth team in four seasons, will have to reach double digits in strikeouts to keep up with other members of the staff. Matt Boyd recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts against the New York Yankees on Wednesday and Spencer Turnbull notched a career-best 10 against the Royals.

"It's just a lot of strikeouts in general going on right now, whether it's the cold weather or whatever it might be," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We have some guys who can throw the ball and they're making pitches and we've got good pitch plans."

The bullpen has also been solid, led by closer Shane Greene, who has notched saves in all five victories.

"We're attacking guys," Greene said. "First pitch strike is the name of the game and we're getting ahead of guys and putting them away when we can."

The Tigers are in the midst of a rebuilding plan and most of their top prospects are in the upper minors. There's no pressure on the current group to contend for a playoff spot but Gardenhire doesn't want them thinking that way.

"The fans are pretty knowledgeable baseball people and they understand what we're going through. But just like everybody else, fans have a lot of hopes and big dreams of us coming out and winning and getting right back into the playoffs," Gardenhire said. "That's the same dreams we have inside that clubhouse. We don't want to hear anybody tell us how bad we are. We don't care about it. Doesn't matter. People say it and we're not going to listen to it. We're going to go out and try to prove people wrong."

Moore (0-0) was sharp in his team debut, holding Toronto scoreless and allowing just two hits over seven innings on March 31. He's 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA in four career starts against the Royals.

He'll be opposed by right-hander Jorge Lopez (0-1), who gave up four runs and six hits over five innings against the Chicago White Sox in his season debut on March 31.

In his only career appearance against Detroit, he surrendered seven runs in one inning last September.

Kansas City will be looking to end a four-game skid. The last three defeats have come by a single run.

In the opener of the series, the Tigers scored the go-ahead run on four consecutive walks.

"The problem we're running into right now it is we're getting behind in the count and we're shooting ourselves in the foot," manager Ned Yost said of his bullpen. "Then, we're too fat in the zone, giving up too many hits."

Left fielder Alex Gordon has been a bright spot with two homers among four hits, three runs scored and six RBI over the last two games.

"He's locked in," Yost said. "He's really focusing on all the little aspects of the game that he never focused on before. He's just trying to use every asset he has to help this team win."

--Field Level Media