(Sports Network) - The Kansas City Royals try to start a season 3-0 for the first time since reeling off nine straight wins to kick off the 2003 campaign when they go for a sweep in their season-opening series against the Detroit Tigers today at Comerica Park.

After beating the Tigers on Opening Day, Kansas City made it two in a row on Wednesday, as Brian Bannister threw seven strong innings and Billy Butler drove in a pair of runs to lead the Royals to a 4-0 victory.

Mark Grudzielanek scored twice and Joey Gathright added a pair of hits and scored a run for the Royals, who are two games above .500 for the first time since opening the 2004 season with a 4-2 mark.

Bannister (1-0) limited the high-powered Tigers to a pair of singles with four strikeouts and no walks. He retired the last 12 batters he faced and improved to 8-3 in 19 career road games.

Edgar Renteria managed the only three hits for the Tigers, who have lost their first two games of the year for the first time since 2003, when the club dropped nine straight to open the season en route to an AL-high 119 losses.

Kenny Rogers (0-1) was the hard-luck loser. The veteran lefty surrendered just five hits with two runs in six innings. He walked one and struck out four.

Hoping to complete the sweep for the Royals this afternoon will be 24-year-old righty Zack Greinke, who was 7-7 with a 3.69 earned run average in 52 games last season, 14 of which were starts. The former first round pick, who has battled psychological issues in the past, also pitched to a stellar 1.85 ERA over his final seven starts.

Greinke has faced the Tigers 13 times (10 starts) over his career and is 6-3 with a 3.40 ERA against them.

The Tigers will counter with Jeremy Bonderman, who endured a tale of two seasons a year ago. Bonderman was dominant for the season's first two months, going 5-0 with a 3.27 ERA over his first 10 starts. However, he went 6-9 with a 6.06 ERA after that, losing eight of his last nine decisions before shutting it down in early September with an elbow injury.

Bonderman is 9-5 lifetime against the Royals with a 3.81 ERA in 19 games, 17 of which have been starts.

Detroit won 11 of its 18 matchups with the Royals last season and is 35-22 in the series since the start of the 2005 campaign.

Kansas City is 14-16 in its last 30 contests in Motown.