Royals vs. Tigers odds, tips and betting trends

On Friday, a matchup of AL Central rivals is on the docket, with the Kansas City Royals (69-65) hosting the Detroit Tigers (78-57) at 8:10 p.m. ET.

The Tigers (+106 underdog moneyline odds to win) are away versus the Royals (-124). The Royals will give the ball to Seth Lugo (8-6) versus the Tigers and Chris Paddack (5-11).

The Royals won their last contest versus the White Sox by a 12-1 score Wednesday, with Ryan Bergert picking up the win pitching throwing six innings, giving up one earned run on six hits while striking out three. Mike Yastrzemski went 2 for 5 with a double, a home run and three RBIs to lead them offensively.

Wednesday, the Tigers lost to the Athletics 7-0. Casey Mize was the losing pitcher after throwing 3 1/3 innings, giving up five earned runs on seven hits while striking out four. Spencer Torkelson led the Tigers’ offense, going 1 for 3 with a triple.

Before the Royals vs. Tigers matchup, here is what you need to prepare for Friday’s baseball action, including viewing options.

Kansas City Royals vs. Detroit Tigers odds, line and spread

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Thursday at 3:16 p.m. ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.

Favorite: Royals (-124, bet $124 to win $100)
Underdog: Tigers (+106, bet $100 to win $106)
Over/under: 9

Royals vs. Tigers: Game time and live stream info

Game day: Friday, August 29, 2025
Game time: 8:10 p.m. ET
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Stadium: Kauffman Stadium
TV channel: FDSKC and FDSDET
Live stream: Watch LIVE with Fubo! (Regional restrictions may apply)

Watch Royals vs. Tigers on Fubo!

Royals stats and trends

Royals betting records

The Royals have won 34, or 59.6%, of the 57 games they’ve played as favorites this season.
Kansas City is 23-15 this season when entering a game favored by -124 or more on the moneyline.
Oddsmakers have implied with the moneyline set for this matchup that the Royals have a 55.4% chance to win.
So far this season, Kansas City and its opponents have hit the over in 59 of 134 games with a total.
The Royals have an ATS record of 70-64-0 in 134 games with a spread this season.

Seth Lugo (Royals probable starter)

The Royals will send Lugo (8-6) out for his 26th start of the season. He is 8-6 with a 3.99 ERA and 120 strikeouts in 142 2/3 innings pitched.
The right-hander last pitched on Sunday against the Detroit Tigers, when he went 4 1/3 innings, allowing six earned runs while giving up six hits.
In 25 games this season, the 35-year-old has amassed a 3.99 ERA and 7.6 strikeouts per nine innings, while giving up a batting average of .237 to opposing hitters.
Lugo has 12 quality starts under his belt this season.
Lugo will try to record his 21st outing of five or more innings pitched this season. He’s averaging 5.7 innings per appearance.
He has had three appearances this season in which he did not surrender an earned run.
He meets a Tigers offense that ranks eighth in the league with 650 runs while batting .249 as a unit. It has a collective .423 slugging percentage (ninth in MLB play) and has hit a total of 173 home runs (ninth in MLB).
Lugo has thrown 14 1/3 innings, giving up 13 earned runs on 16 hits while striking out 13 against the Tigers this season.
This season, the 35-year-old ranks 34th in ERA (3.99), 31st in WHIP (1.239), and 39th in K/9 (7.6) among pitchers who qualify.

Royals batting stats

The Royals have hit 128 homers this season, which ranks 25th in the league.
Hitters for Kansas City have combined for a team rank of 19th in the majors with a .394 team slugging percentage.
The Royals’ .247 batting average ranks 17th in the league this season.
Kansas City has scored the fourth-fewest runs in the majors this season with just 523 (3.9 per game).
The Royals have the 23rd-ranked on-base percentage in MLB this season (.308).
Kansas City has shown patience at the plate this season with the second-best rate of strikeouts per game (6.8) among MLB offenses.

Tigers stats and trends

Tigers betting records

The Tigers have won in 18, or 46.2%, of the 39 contests they have been named as odds-on underdogs this year.
This year, Detroit has won six of 17 games when listed as at least +106 or worse on the moneyline.
The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Tigers have a 48.5% chance of coming away with a victory in the contest.
Detroit and its opponents have gone over the total this season in 70 of its 135 opportunities.
The Tigers are 65-70-0 against the spread in their 135 games that had a posted line this season.

Chris Paddack (Tigers probable starter)

Paddack gets the start for the Tigers, his 27th of the season. He is 5-11 with a 4.98 ERA and 97 strikeouts in 137 1/3 innings pitched.
In his most recent appearance on Saturday, the right-hander threw five innings against the Kansas City Royals, giving up one earned run while surrendering five hits.
The 29-year-old has an ERA of 4.98, with 6.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 26 games this season. Opponents are hitting .265 against him.
Paddack has registered six quality starts this year.
Paddack will look to extend a four-game streak of lasting five or more innings (he’s averaging 5.3 innings per appearance).
He has held his opponents without an earned run in one of his 26 appearances this season.
The opposing Royals offense has the 19th-ranked slugging percentage (.394) and ranks 25th in home runs hit (128) in all of MLB. They have a collective .247 batting average, and are 16th in the league with 1110 total hits and 27th in MLB play scoring 523 runs.
Paddack has thrown five innings, giving up one earned run on five hits while striking out one against the Royals this season.
This season, the 29-year-old ranks 49th in ERA (4.98), 33rd in WHIP (1.260), and 51st in K/9 (6.4) among qualifying pitchers.

Tigers batting stats

The Tigers are ninth in baseball with 173 home runs. They average 1.3 per game.
So far this year, Detroit’s .423 slugging percentage ranks ninth-best in baseball.
The Tigers have the 12th-ranked batting average in the league (.249).
The offense for Detroit is No. 8 in baseball, scoring 4.8 runs per game (650 total runs).
The Tigers’ .318 on-base percentage ranks 13th in baseball.

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