FINAL May 8, 2026
May 8, 2026 · AL Cent

Detroit Tigers vs Kansas City Royals

May 8, 2026Kauffman StadiumPartly Cloudy 64°F · 0 mph, Calm
AWAY
Detroit Tigers
18-21
3
vs
HOME
Kansas City Royals
18-21
4

Starting pitchers

AWAY · DET
Keider Montero
Keider Montero
IP 6
HOME · KC
Kris Bubic
Kris Bubic
IP 5.2

Lineups

AWAY · DET
  1. 1 Matt Vierling CF
  2. 2 Kevin McGonigle 3B
  3. 3 Jahmai Jones DH
  4. 4 Dillon Dingler C
  5. 5 Riley Greene LF
  6. 6 Wenceel Pérez RF
  7. 7 Spencer Torkelson 1B
  8. 8 Hao-Yu Lee 2B
  9. 9 Zack Short SS
HOME · KC
  1. 1 Maikel Garcia 3B
  2. 2 Bobby Witt Jr. SS
  3. 3 Vinnie Pasquantino 1B
  4. 4 Salvador Perez DH
  5. 5 Carter Jensen C
  6. 6 Jac Caglianone RF
  7. 7 Isaac Collins LF
  8. 8 Michael Massey 2B
  9. 9 Kyle Isbel CF

Box score

  123456789 R
DET 010002000 3
KC 010000021 4

Manager comparison

Both managers grade C- / C entering this matchup.

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

Recent form

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

Season series: 3-1 with DET 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 · Detroit Tigers
  • Manager lineup cost −0.01 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.53 vs actual lineup 3.54
  • Player execution −0.54 R/G Players fell 0.54 short of the lineup's 3.54 projection (scored 3)
  • Game variance −0.53 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

McGonigle 0-for-3 batting 2nd

HOME · Kansas City Royals
  • Manager lineup cost +0.08 R/G Optimal arrangement projects 3.48 vs actual lineup 3.40
  • Player execution +0.60 R/G Players exceeded the lineup's 3.40 projection by 0.60 (scored 4)
  • Game variance +0.52 R/G Total game outcome vs optimal expectation

Pasquantino 0-for-3 batting 3rd

COUNTERFACTUAL

Optimal lineups projected 3.5 – 3.5 — actual was 3 – 4.

GAME INSIGHTS
  • Matt Quatraro (KC) has run 27 distinct starting lineups across 30 games this season — that's 90% turnover game-to-game. Most managers stay below 14 for the same span.
  • Riley Greene reaches base in 19 consecutive games
    Riley Greene (DET) has reached base safely in 19 straight games — past the 15-game watermark.
  • A.J. Hinch (DET) has run 30 distinct starting lineups across 30 games this season — that's 100% turnover game-to-game. Most managers stay below 14 for the same span.

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.