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Tigers-Royals Preview

Jun 5, 2010 - 5:12 AM By ALAN FERGUSON STATS Writer

Detroit (28-25) at Kansas City (22-33), 7:10 p.m. EDT

After one of their best offensive performances of the season, the Detroit Tigers were relatively quiet in their series opener against the Kansas City Royals.

The Tigers' chances to rebound could depend on which Luke Hochevar they see.

The inconsistent Royals starter will try to avoid consecutive losses for the first time this season and help his club to its first series victory in five tries Saturday night.

Detroit (28-26) concluded a seven-game homestand with back-to-back wins over Cleveland, including a 12-6 victory Thursday. After collecting 17 hits in that game, the Tigers managed just eight in a 7-3 loss to the Royals on Friday night.

"We hit a few balls real good, but nothing to show for it," manager Jim Leyland said. "We're a better hitting team than that."

Losers of five of six on the road, Detroit will try to bounce back against Hochevar (5-3, 5.10 ERA), who is 2-2 with a 5.53 ERA in five career starts against the Tigers. He's given up no runs in two of those games and at least five in each of the others.

Hochevar kept the Tigers off the board for 7 2-3 innings in his season debut at home April 7. Five days later, he allowed five runs over five innings in Detroit.

That up-and-down pattern has continued throughout this season for the right-hander, who's given up five or more runs in five of his 11 starts, including Monday's 7-1 loss to Los Angeles.

After posting a 2.65 ERA while winning back-to-back starts, Hochevar gave up five runs over seven innings against the Angels. He allowed a pair of home runs after giving up only two homers over his previous 60 innings.

"What's on my mind is making quality pitches, down in the zone," Hochevar said. "When you get the ball up, that's what happens."

While the Tigers were kept off the scoreboard for much of Friday's game, the Royals (23-33) had their best offensive performance in a week while winning for the second time in seven games. Jason Kendall had three of the team's 13 hits and drove in a season-high three runs.

The Royals could have a more difficult time Saturday against Justin Verlander (5-4, 3.75), who is 5-2 with a 1.72 ERA in nine career starts at Kauffman Stadium.

The right-hander had allowed two runs or fewer in each of the first eight before giving up four over five innings in his season debut April 5. Verlander is 9-2 with a 2.58 ERA in 15 overall outings against the Royals, but he's dropped back-to-back starts following a four-game win streak.

After posting a 1.26 ERA over his previous five games, Verlander has a 5.02 ERA over his past two, including a rain-delayed 4-1 loss to Oakland on Monday.

"I was all over the place and made a couple bad pitches, and they hit them," Verlander said. "It was tough, because I went through my pregame routine and then had to shut it down for a couple hours, which I've never had to do before. But that shouldn't have any bearing on the game."

The Tigers have won 11 of Verlander's 15 starts against the Royals, while Kansas City has split Hochevar's six outings versus Detroit.

Kansas City's last series victory was a two-game road sweep of Cleveland from May 19-20.