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Tigers eye repeat of series-opening rout of Royals

Jul 22, 2008 - 10:13 AM Detroit (50-49) at Kansas City (45-55) 8:10 p.m. EDT

KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers ended their season-long frustration against the Kansas City Royals on Monday. On Tuesday, they hope to avoid the fate they suffered the last time they matched their season high in runs.

Detroit, which had dropped each of its six games against Kansas City coming in, saw the heart of its order - Carlos Guillen, Miguel Cabrera and rookie Matt Joyce - go 12-for-16 with 10 runs scored and 13 RBI in a 19-4 rout of the Royals.

It was the third time the Tigers have scored that many runs in a game, but the last time they did so on May 24, they followed with three total runs over their next three games - all losses.

That kind of offensive inconsistency has hampered Detroit for most of the season. In games the Tigers score five or more runs, they are 44-7. But in games they score four or less, 6-42.

Kenny Rogers (7-6, 4.62 ERA) will look for offense more in line with Monday's outburst when he takes the mound. In Thursday's 6-5 win over Baltimore, the 43-year-old lefthander received the decision despite surrendering four runs and 11 hits over six frames.

He'll be opposed by Kyle Davies (3-1, 4.59), who is in the midst of a five-game winless streak. The righthander posted his third consecutive no-decision on July 13, allowing three runs and six hits over seven innings, striking out four in a 4-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners.