Detroit Tigers (2-2) vs Kansas City Royals (2-3)
Kauffman Stadium @ 2:10 pm EST
Another cold one today as it is 36F degrees in Kansas City right now which is warmer than yesterdays gametime temperature of 29F. This is the first Tigers rubber match of the year as the last game against the Blue Jays on April 5th was postponed due to weather. On the mound for the Royals is Brandon Duckworth who is getting the ball for the first time this year, while the Tigers ace Jeremy Bonderman gets his second start of the year with Leyland switching the rotation around and sitting Chad Durbin.
The Tigers only saw Duckworth once last year with Ivan Rodriguez getting a homerun and a walk in three plate appearances. The team line vs Duckworth was .316/.381/.474. One other notable stat on Duckworth’s 2006 campaign was his lefty/righty splits:
| Brandon Duckworth | AVG | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|
| vs LHB | .232 | .341 | .261 |
| vs RHB | .390 | .451 | .585 |
Bonderman is looking for his first win of the year after. Bonderman faced the Royals many times last year ending with a 3.41 ERA against the Royals overall though he did markedly better in Kauffman stadium with a 2.61ERA. Thames gets his first start today after a few bad outings by Monroe
- Detroit Tigers Lineup
- Granderson
- Polanco
- Sheffield
- Ordonez
- Guillen
- Rodriguez
- Casey
- Thames
- Inge
- Kansas City Royals Lineup
- DeJesus
- Grudzielanek
- Teahen
- Brown
- Gordon
- Sanders
- Shealy
- LaRue
- Pena