Few pitchers in baseball have been better than Michael Fulmer (7-1, 2.52 ERA) of the Detroit Tigers (34-32) lately, as the rookie has been nearly unhittable over his past four starts en route to a personal five-game winning streak.
Fulmer will try to make it six in a row when he and the Tigers visit the defending World Series champion Kansas City Royals (35-31) in the second game of a four-game series Friday as -115 road betting favorites (bet $115 to win $100) at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark.
Fulmer has pitched 28.1 consecutive scoreless innings—allowing just nine hits over his previous four starts combined—with his ERA dropping four full runs over his last five outings.
Detroit has won in each of his previous seven trips to the mound, as he walked away with a no-decision only once during that stretch. The team’s top pitching prospect has yet to face Kansas City, but he is 5-1 in seven road outings with a 3.10 ERA.
Opposing Fulmer for the Royals will be mercurial righty Yordano Ventura (5-4, 4.93 ERA), who ended a two-game losing streak by earning a victory against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.
After getting ejected for throwing at Manny Machado in a 9-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, Ventura bounced back nicely with one of his better starts. He allowed one run and five hits with one walk and a season-high 10 strikeouts in seven innings versus the White Sox.
The lone run he gave up came on a solo home run by Jose Abreu in the sixth inning with his team leading 2-0 on its way to a 3-1 win.
Ventura has not lost at home this year, going 3-0 with a 4.55 ERA in five outings. He is also 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA against the Tigers in 2016, allowing two runs and six hits with three walks and five strikeouts in five innings of an 8-6 home victory April 19.
Kansas City had won two of three meetings with Detroit before blowing a 4-3 lead in a 10-4 loss on Thursday. The Tigers scored seven times in the last three innings, as the over improved to 9-2 in 11 meetings, according to the Odds Shark MLB Database.
The Royals enter the weekend back in the pack at +1800 on the World Series odds at the sportsbooks in their quest to repeat as champions.
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