Detroit @ Kansas City preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 5, 2011 ) Detroit 4, Kansas City 3

THE STORY: The Kansas City Royals introduced another of their highly touted prospects to the major leagues Friday, but second baseman Johnny Giavotella will have to wait to celebrate his first victory. That won't be easy as the Tigers send ace Justin Verlander to the mound at Kauffman Stadium on Saturday night. Detroit is rounding into postseason form, getting offensive contributions from Brennan Boesch and Alex Avila and another strong effort from the back end of the bullpen in a series-opening 4-3 triumph Friday.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSD (Detroit), FSKC (Kansas City)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Tigers RH Justin Verlander (15-5, 2.24 ERA) vs. Royals LH Danny Duffy (3-4, 5.05 ERA).

Verlander became the first Detroit pitcher since 1973 to enter August with at least 15 wins when he got the better of fellow Cy Young Award hopeful Jered Weaver and the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. Verlander took a no-hitter into the eighth and ended up allowing one hit while striking out nine. He has yielded one or no earned runs in eight of his last 10 outings. He earned a win at Kansas City on July 10 and has dominated the Royals in his career, going 12-2 with a 2.321 ERA in 18 starts. Duffy bounced back from a tough start in Boston with a strong effort at Cleveland on Sunday, allowing two runs in five innings to earn the win. Kansas City is being careful with the 22-year-old rookie, who has gone past the sixth inning only twice in 13 major-league starts. Duffy surrendered two runs on four hits to Detroit on July 7, but was stuck with the loss in a 3-1 final.

ABOUT THE ROYALS (48-64): Giavotella is not quite as highly regarded as Eric Hosmer or Mike Moustakas were when they made the leap to the majors earlier this season. But Giavotella was leading the minors in hits at the time of his call-up and continued right along with a 2-for-3 night in his debut Friday. The 24-year-old Louisiana native profiles as an offensive second baseman and sparked a three-run rally in the seventh with an RBI single off Rick Porcello. One of the problems with introducing so many young players is inconsistency, as demonstrated in the 10th inning Friday, when fellow rookie Aaron Crow walked a pair, uncorked a wild pitch and allowed the winning run on a Boesch single.

ABOUT THE TIGERS (60-52): Boesch added an RBI triple to deliver his fourth multi-hit game in the last eight contests. After dropping off considerably in the second half during his 2010 rookie campaign, Boesch has displayed remarkable consistency throughout the middle of 2011, hovering around .300 since mid-June. Joining Boesch is fellow sophomore Avila, who has homered in three straight games after going the month of July without a blast. Winners of four of their last five and holding a comfortable lead over the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central, the Tigers got strong back-end relief from Daniel Schlereth and Jose Valverde on Friday.

FINAL PITCH: Kansas City sent Yamaico Navarro to Triple A to make room for Giavotella. Navarro, who was acquired from the Boston Red Sox last week, went 3-for-7 in two games for the Royals and will play all over the infield for Omaha.