The Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers are playing an AL Central matchup on the MLB schedule on Wednesday and the ESPN baseball matchup is huge for the division and the playoffs in the American League and starts up past 7 pm ET as James Shields and Rick Porcello go at it and this is a massive game in the whole postseason picture from Comerica Park.

The Tigers are starting to get hot again after letting KC get ahead of them in the division and now the central title and wild card are up in the air for the moment, as the Mariners are close and one of these teams will be out of the spot after tonight most likely. The Tigers have the chance to take the lead back in the division, as the Royals hold things by less than a percentage point, as they basically have the same records, with KC down one less win and one less loss.

James Shields comes in after a very strong start in his last game and that was against the Yankees and put a dent in their playoff hopes. Shields has been very good for the Royals and the last six starts for him in Detroit have been very good, with him going 4-0 and now the Royals could use one of those again. Shields has 13 wins this season and the team comes in after a loss against the Tigers and this is a major chance for the team to keep some distance.

Miguel Cabrera has been hobbled, but he somehow keeps hitting and he will be a player to watch on Wednesday night along with Shields. The Royals came into the series with a two game lead in the division, but that went away with losses in the first two games of the series and now the team has a chance to get things right in the third game. Porcello has had a strong season and he has a 15 wins on the season and he is 3-0 in his last three starts against the Royals with a 1.89 Era in that span and he could be trouble on Wednesday for the Royals.

Check here for the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers live coverage from the MLB.