Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals battle for first place

With three weeks left in the Major League Baseball regular season, these last few games are more meaningful than ever.

This is certainly true in the American League Central, where the Detroit Tigers and the Kansas City Royals are tied atop the standings as they are in the midst of a three-game series.
The final game of this set is tonight at 7 p.m. ET at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Tigers won the first two games, which created the tie.
"Being tied for first doesn't mean a thing when we step on the field (Wednesday)," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said, according to ESPN.com .
The starters for tonight’s game will be Kansas City’s James Shields and Detroit’s Rick Porcello.
Shields, who is 13-7 with a 3.23 ERA this season, has thrived when visiting the Tigers. In seven career starts in Detroit, he is 4-0 with a 2.64 ERA.
Meanwhile, Porecello is 15-10 this season with a 3.30 ERA. He has had success in his most recent tangles with the Royals, winning all three of his most recent outings with a 1.89 ERA.
The Tigers hold a commanding 11-4 edge in the season series. The teams will square off one more time before the season comes to a close, when the Royals welcome the Tigers to Kauffman Stadium for a three-game set beginning on Sept. 19.
When it comes to battling for the playoffs, the Tigers have a lot more experience. They have advanced to the ALCS in each of the last three seasons, winning the pennant once. The Royals have not been to the postseason in almost 30 years; the last time they went was 1985, when they won the only World Series title in franchise history, reports baseball-reference.com .