The Detroit Tigers opened a six-game road trip Friday with the first of three games against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium, sending 25-year-old Keider Montero to the mound against Kris Bubic.
First pitch was scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET, with the game available on Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV and the Tigers Radio Network. Detroit arrived after dropping four of six on its previous homestand, a stretch that included a three-game sweep by the Boston Red Sox, and it needed a steadier start to the trip than the one it got back home.
Montero made his seventh start of the season for Detroit after putting together 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball in his previous outing against the Texas Rangers. In that start, he allowed five hits, including one solo home run, and one walk while striking out two. But the Royals have already seen him once this year. On April 16 in Detroit, Montero allowed four runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts over six innings.
Bubic brought a 3-1 record and 3.32 ERA into the game after allowing five runs on six hits and three walks while striking out three over 4 2/3 innings against the Tigers on April 16. That earlier meeting left both clubs with a clear scouting report, and both starters with something to prove in a series that could help set the tone for the rest of the trip.
The Tigers have been looking for sharper work from the rotation, and Montero has taken over for Justin Verlander there. Kansas City, meanwhile, had reason to believe Bubic’s 2026 season was a slight step back so far, even if it remained early. Friday’s opener was less about a snapshot of standings than about whether Detroit could turn a rough homestand into a more stable road swing before the series moved on.
If Montero could carry over the command he showed against Texas and Bubic could keep Detroit from building on its success from April 16, the first game of tigers vs royals would tell plenty about where both teams were headed on this trip.
