PREVIEW Starts 7:10 PM ET · Kauffman Stadium
May 9, 2026 · AL Cent

Detroit Tigers at Kansas City Royals

May 9, 20267:10 PM ETKauffman Stadium
AWAY
Detroit Tigers
18-21
@
HOME
Kansas City Royals
18-21

Probable starters

AWAY · DET
Burch Smith
Burch Smith
HOME · KC
Michael Wacha
Michael Wacha

Lineups

Lineups are usually announced ~90 minutes before first pitch. Check back soon.

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

Bullpen availability

AWAY · DET
  • Available 10
  • Limited 0
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 0
HOME · KC
  • Available 4
  • Limited 3
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 1

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 preview

A.J. Hinch (C-) faces Matt Quatraro (C). Lineup decisions are the largest single category of cost in the RunsLeft model.

AWAY · DET
C-
Lineup cost 2.7 R · Bunt cost 0.2 R · IBB cost 0.1 R
HOME · KC
C
Lineup cost 1.9 R · Bunt cost 1.1 R · IBB cost 0.8 R

Lineups not yet announced. They typically post ~90 minutes before first pitch.

Bullpen availability for both teams is in the section above. Full tactical analysis (manager cost, player execution, counterfactual outcome) will appear here after the game ends.

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.