Detroit, meanwhile, is playing its best baseball of the second half, having won 5 of 7 since the All-Star break, and the market has noticed — Detroit's moneyline price has only gotten steeper as gametime approaches. With the trade deadline a week out and Skubal's future with the organization unresolved, there's a real chance this is one of his final starts at Comerica Park in a Tigers uniform, which adds a little extra weight to what's otherwise a lopsided-on-paper matchup.
Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers
Fri Jul 246:40 PM ET
By JR·1 min read
TLDR: Kansas City is running out of healthy bodies and Detroit's got its ace lined up — this one has blowout written all over it before a pitch is thrown.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 KC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
 DET | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 5 | 0 |
Kansas City Royals
- Won 3 of last 5 games before this series
- Offense erupted for 5 runs against Giants recently
- Witt Jr. on IL for first time in his career
- Rookie Beck Way making his first MLB start
- 43-61 record, rotation gutted by injuries
Detroit Tigers
- Skubal's last start: 7 IP, 0 ER, 9 K, no walks
- Won 5 of last 7 games since All-Star break
- Skubal has a losing record vs Kansas City historically
- Flaherty on IL, Mize day-to-day with injuries
- Trade deadline speculation swirling around their ace
The Royals are turning to rookie Beck Way for essentially a bullpen day, his first big-league start after 18 relief outings, with Noah Cameron ready to soak up whatever innings follow. Across the mound sits Tarik Skubal, who just carved up the Angels for 7 shutout innings on 5 hits and no walks with 9 strikeouts. On paper, it's not close.
Beck Way
(1-1)·3.86 ERA
2026 · No starts yet
ND
—IP
—ER
—K
—BB
—P
07/24 Lineup
Tarik Skubal
(7-6)·2.81 ERA
Jul 18 @ Angels
W
7.0IP
0ER
9K
0BB
87P
07/24 Lineup
But history says slow down a little. Skubal has quietly struggled against Kansas City for years, and this stretch of the schedule has been physically brutal for the Royals — Bobby Witt Jr. landed on the injured list for the first time in his career this week with lower back spasms that had him admitting he "couldn't even be 50% of myself" out there. That's the kind of absence that changes a lineup's entire complexion, and it's compounding an already thin group in Kansas City.