Kris Bubic hopes his exceptional performance in May carries over to June and helps the Kansas City Royals snap the Detroit Tigers' road-series winning streak.
Brimming with confidence, Bubic will aim to continue his dominance in this series rubber game against the American League Central-leading Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
In his sixth major league season, two years removed from Tommy John surgery and back in a rotation for the first time since 2022, Bubic (5-2, 1.45 ERA) has been one of baseball's biggest surprises through 11 starts this season.
Entering play Saturday, the left-hander owned the lowest ERA of any qualified starter, and he allowed just two runs and eight walks and struck out 33 over 32 1/3 innings while going 3-0 with an 0.56 ERA in five May starts.
"It's almost like you don't expect them to score at all," Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. "What he's doing is phenomenal. You can't take it for granted. You appreciate every out."
Bubic completed seven innings and allowed two hits over each of his last two outings. He yielded one of those runs and two walks while striking out nine during a 2-1, 10-inning victory last Sunday at Minnesota.
"It's been a lot of fun this year," said Bubic, 27, who didn't have an official spot in the Royals' rotation entering spring training. "Just trying to take the opportunity with the starting rotation and run with it.
Bubic is 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA in seven career starts versus Detroit. He last faced the Tigers in that capacity in 2022.
He'll have a tough act to follow after teammate Michael Wacha allowed one hit and struck out six over seven innings -- while locked in a pitchers' duel with Tigers ace Tarik Skubal -- in Kansas City's 1-0 victory Saturday. Vinnie Pasquantino delivered an RBI single in the eighth for the Royals, who snapped Detroit's five-game winning streak.
"We know that we're looking up at (the Tigers) in the standings, so we want to win every time we have a chance against them," Quatraro said. "A win in that situation is really good."
Kansas City has split its last 12 games and hasn't won back-to-back contests since May 18-19.
Meanwhile, Detroit has won 10 of 13 games while claiming four consecutive road series. The Tigers, who won 7-5 in Friday's series opener, averaged 6.7 runs during a 12-3 road stretch before Saturday.
Scheduled Tigers starter Keider Montero (2-1, 4.54 ERA) has bounced back and forth between the minors and the big club in 2025. Making his first start since May 8 after two lengthy relief outings since being recalled from Triple-A Toledo on May 13, the right-hander tossed five scoreless innings, allowing one hit and two walks, during Monday's 3-1 home win over San Francisco.
"He didn't back down from them," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said of Montero, who has made 21 starts in 26 appearances since making his major league debut roughly one year ago. "He's always going to compete."
In his only previous start against the Royals, last season, Montero yielded a three-run homer to Pasquantino and one other run over seven innings of the Tigers' 7-1 home loss.
Pasquantino is batting .348 in his last 23 games.
Detroit's Spencer Torkelson and Riley Greene are a combined 4-for-10 versus Bubic. Torkelson was 0-for-3 on Saturday but is batting .318 with 10 RBIs against the Royals this season.
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