ARCHIVE April 15, 2026
April 15, 2026 · AL Cent

Kansas City Royals vs Detroit Tigers

April 15, 2026Comerica ParkPartly Cloudy 70°F · 7 mph, R To L
AWAY
Kansas City Royals
7-11
1
vs
HOME
Detroit Tigers
9-9
2

Starting pitchers

AWAY · KC
Seth Lugo
Seth Lugo
IP 6.2
HOME · DET
Jack Flaherty
Jack Flaherty
IP 6

Lineups

AWAY · KC
  1. 1 Maikel Garcia 3B
  2. 2 Bobby Witt SS
  3. 3 Vinnie Pasquantino 1B
  4. 4 Salvador Perez C
  5. 5 Carter Jensen DH
  6. 6 Michael Massey 2B
  7. 7 Jac Caglianone RF
  8. 8 Lane Thomas LF
  9. 9 Kyle Isbel CF
HOME · DET
  1. 1 Kevin McGonigle SS
  2. 2 Gleyber Torres 2B
  3. 3 Colt Keith DH
  4. 4 Riley Greene LF
  5. 5 Spencer Torkelson 1B
  6. 6 Kerry Carpenter RF
  7. 7 Zach McKinstry 3B
  8. 8 Javier Báez CF
  9. 9 Jake Rogers C

Box score

  123456789 R
KC 000010000 1
DET 001000010 2

Manager comparison

Both managers grade C / C- entering this matchup.

AWAY · KC
Matt Quatraro
C Lineup 1.9 R Bunts 1.1 R IBBs 0.8 R
HOME · DET
A.J. Hinch
C- Lineup 2.7 R Bunts 0.2 R IBBs 0.1 R

Recent form

AWAY · KC
6-4 W1 +1 run diff
WLLWWWWWLL
HOME · DET
3-7 L4 -5 run diff
LLLLWWLWLL

Season series: 1-3 with KC listed first across 4 prior meetings.

Tactical analysis

RunsLeft separates manager decisions from player execution from game variance. Each card below is the same three-number framework that drives the share cards on the SPA replay page.

AWAY · Kansas City Royals
  • Manager lineup cost +0.12 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 4.77 vs actual lineup 4.65
  • Player execution −3.65 R/G Players fell 3.65 short of the lineup's 4.65 projection (scored 1)
  • Game variance −3.77 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Garcia 0-for-4 batting 1st

HOME · Detroit Tigers
  • Manager lineup cost +0.09 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.24 vs actual lineup 3.15
  • Player execution −1.15 R/G Players fell 1.15 short of the lineup's 3.15 projection (scored 2)
  • Game variance −1.24 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Pérez HR from the 7-hole

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 4.8 – 3.2 — actual was 1 – 2.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. Tactical analysis comes from a per-game Monte Carlo: 10,000 simulated games against the opposing starter's ERA, both for the actual lineup the manager wrote and for the optimal arrangement of those nine players. The three numbers — manager cost, player execution, game variance — separate which part of the result was the lineup, the players, or the dice.

Read the full methodology.