Tigers to face one less lefty against Royals

CHICAGO -- The Royals took two out of three from the Tigers last weekend in Kansas City behind two left-handed starters. As it turns out, the Tigers will only have to face one of them in the rematch series this weekend at Comerica Park.

Originally, both Danny Duffy and Bruce Chen were scheduled to pitch in the series, starting the first two games. With an off-day on Thursday, however, the Royals will move up their other starters and skip Duffy, who allowed two runs over 4 2/3 innings against the Tigers last Saturday despite five walks.

"We've got 17 games left," Royals manager Ned Yost said on Wednesday, "and you want your most veteran, your most productive pitchers on the mound as often as you can."

The Tigers will still have to face Chen, who delivered seven innings of two-run ball on Sunday. He'll pitch Friday's series opener against Tigers right-hander Justin Verlander. After that, the Royals will send out veteran right-handers Ervin Santana against Doug Fister on Saturday and Jeremy Guthrie to face Max Scherzer in Sunday's finale.