KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Known for his volatile mound presence and blistering fastball, Yordano Ventura says there’s something much different about him this year.
Ventura is finally showing some confidence in his offspeed pitches, something the right-hander looks to continue Tuesday night (5:30 pregame / KTTN AM and FM) when the Kansas City Royals open a six-game homestand with their first look at the AL Central rival Detroit Tigers.
Ventura (0-0, 2.45 ERA) has picked up where he left off in 2015 when he went 7-1 with a 2.38 ERA with 81 strikeouts over his last 11 regular-season starts.
He’s allowed six hits while striking out 12 in his first two outings, but Kansas City (8-4) has supported him with a total of four runs.
Ventura gave up one run over six innings of Wednesday’s 4-2 win at Houston. With the bases loaded in the sixth, he threw a changeup on a full count to Carlos Gomez, who grounded out weakly while likely waiting on a 100-mph heater.
That’s something Ventura may not have even considered doing last season.
“I feel comfortable with my curveball and changeup,” he told MLB’s official website through an interpreter. “Last year, at times I felt I was strictly a fastball pitcher. This year, I feel like I can throw my offspeed pitches at any time.”
Ventura is looking to improve his command after walking nine over his first two starts. He’s posted a 0.61 ERA in winning three home starts against Detroit after allowing one run with 12 strikeouts in seven innings of a 12-1 victory Sept. 2.
Detroit’s Nick Castellanos has gotten off to a strong start with a .357 average and two home runs, but he’s 1 for 11 with four strikeouts against Ventura.
Ian Kinsler, J.D. Martinez and Jarrod Saltalamacchia homered Sunday but the Tigers suffered their first series loss with a 5-4 road defeat to the Astros. Martinez is hitting .372 on the season and Saltalamacchia has three homers over his past four games.
Miguel Cabrera has gone 10 for 22 over his past six against Kansas City.
The Tigers (7-4) finished 20 1/2 games back in 2015 but gave the Royals trouble, winning nine of the 19 meetings. They’ll send Shane Greene to the mound as he looks to build on a promising season debut.
The right-hander allowed two runs with seven strikeouts in six innings of a 7-3 win at Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
“At the end of the day, we’re just trying to win ballgames,” said Greene, who has given up one earned run over 13 innings in two career starts against Kansas City.
The Royals suffered a 3-2 loss at Oakland on Sunday and are trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak since a four-game slide Sept. 4-7. They’re returning to Kauffman Stadium for the first time since winning four of five on a season-opening homestand.
Kansas City didn’t have much trouble offensively against Detroit last season, averaging 7.1 runs while hitting .315 with 19 homers in the last 10 meetings.
Kendrys Morales has gone 14 for 28 with six home runs in his past six matchups and Lorenzo Cain is 13 for 24 with three homers over his last six home meetings.
Eric Hosmer has hit .400 in his last 29 games against the Tigers and is batting .353 in an eight-game overall hitting streak.