Tonight at 7:08 p.m. ET the Detroit Tigers (79-65) and Kansas City Royals (79-63) will clash for Game 2 of their pivotal three-game set that could go a long way toward determining the American League Central title. Watch the game online by clicking this link; Tigers fans can hear the game on 97.1 The Ticket, while Royals fans may do the same on KCSP 610. The Tigers will send out 2013 Cy Young winner Max Scherzer (15-5, 3.25 ERA) against Jason Vargas (11-7, 3.14 ERA).
The heavily favored Tigers are one game behind the Royals in the race for the AL Central, but pulled to within one game of them after a 9-5 win last night. Justin Verlander said the crowd at Comerica Park played a huge role in powering the victory.
"You can feel it. You can feel the energy in the crowd," Verlander said. "You can feel the energy of our ballclub. This is a big series. . . . I'm not saying this is do or die, but it's definitely a big series. This is the biggest series of the year coming in, and it's nice to get off to a good start."
Detroit is 6-4 in their last 10 games, which has been the story of their 2014 season in a way. "Something we haven't really done since the break is get on a roll where we're either stringing together good outings by pitchers or offensive explosions that put streaks together," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said.
The Royals are saying that first place isn't on their minds though, so the pressure of holding off Detroit won't affect them.
"I don't really think about being in here in first place, I think about: 'We've got to win this game,'" Yost said. "I just think about taking care of our business. If we take care of our business, it doesn't matter. We're in the driver's seat right now, so my mindset is not keeping them at bay but win this game tonight. That's all I think about.
"I don't think I've spent a second thinking about us being in first and they're chasing us. Because now everybody's chasing us -- the Yankees were chasing us, these guys are going to be chasing us, Cleveland's going to be chasing us. It's the same -- everybody wants you. Everybody's going to give their best. They're coming for you."
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