DETROIT (AP) – New manager Brad Ausmus and the Detroit Tigers begin their pursuit of a fourth straight AL Central title Monday against the Kansas City Royals.

Justin Verlander will make his seventh consecutive opening day start, and Detroit will try to move past a difficult spring training in which three significant players went down with major injuries.

Kansas City will send right-hander James Shields to the mound. The Royals are coming off an 86-win season – the first time they’d finished above .500 in a decade. They’ll need to take another step forward to displace Detroit atop the division.

Ausmus took over as Detroit’s manager after Jim Leyland stepped down at the end of last season.

The game Monday can be heard on KJCK AM 1420 , The Talk of JC. The first pitch is scheduled at 12:08 p.m. and the pregame broadcast begins at 11:30 a.m.