The Detroit Tigers secured at least a split of their four-game series with the Kansas City Royals to open up their home stand on Friday night with a 7-3 victory. They managed to get past Cole Ragans — who had been mowing down batters like Anakin did to the younglings entering the matchup — thanks to some solid pitching and productive offense.
AJ Hinch and crew now have a chance to clinch their fifth series win of the 2025 campaign inside Comerica Park on Saturday. Detroit will send a rejuvenated Casey Mize to the bump while K.C. turns to Seth Lugo to stave off the Tigers’ attack.
The pitching details you need to know for the afternoon affair are just below.
Detroit Tigers (12-8) vs. Kansas City Royals (8-13)
Time (ET): 1:10 p.m.
Place: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
SB Nation Site: Royals Review
Media: Bally Sports Detroit , MLB.TV , Tigers Radio Network
Game 21: RHP Casey Mize (2-1, 2.60 ERA) vs. RHP Seth Lugo (1-2, 3.86 ERA)
MIZE
Baseball Savant
LUGO
Baseball Savant
Casey Mize looks to bounce back
The former No. 1 draft pick looked really good in his first two appearances of the season, but took a step back last time out against the Minnesota Twins . In that road matchup, he allowed four runs on seven his (plus the first two home runs allowed this year) but no walks while striking out three over 5 2⁄3 innings.
Prior to that, the 27-year-old put up a 0.77 ERA and 2.52 FIP over 11 2⁄3 frames, striking out 12. It would be great to see Casey get back on track Saturday.
Seth Lugo’s up-and-down 2025 so far
The 10-year veteran has had mixed results in his four starts so far, bookending a pair of solid efforts with a couple of ugly outings. Lugo opened the season allowing three runs on four hits (one home run) and three walks, plus four strikeouts over five frames in a team win against the Cleveland Guardians .
The next two games earned him wins while logging a quality start against the Twins, with the key stat being zero home runs allowed. The reason being that in his last start at the New York Yankees , he coughed up four dingers — all solo — to earn his only loss coming into the weekend.
If the Tigers can just put a ball or two over the fence…