Gamethread 100: Royals at Marlins

A frustrating and disappointing series concludes this afternoon

The Royals went into the All-Star Break at 47-50. They had clawed back and finally started winning more than they were losing for the first time in a while. They were hoping to start the second half of the season hot out the gates in Miami, against a team that’s better than last year, but still not as good as the Royals.

Both games have been there for the taking. The Royals battled back from a 5-0 deficit on Friday to force extra innings, before taking a 7-5 lead into the bottom of the 10th, it looked like they were going to steal one, but Kyle Stowers continued his historic stretch by sending a moonshot walk off 2 run bomb to down the Royals 8-7. Yesterday, the Royals offense couldn’t do anything. They had 2 hits in the first 7 innings and trailed 1-0. But a leadoff homer off the bat of Salvador Perez in the 8th, again made it feel like the Royals were about to steal one. They had 1st and 2nd with two outs later in the inning, but Jonathan India couldn’t come through, the Marlins quickly scored 2 runs off Lucas Erceg in the bottom half of the inning and the Royals were done for, 3-1 losers and now 47-52 on the season.

In a series the Royals at bare minimum needed to win, if not sweep for their playoff hopes, they are now trying to AVOID being swept this afternoon. It is the 100th Royals game this season, and they are 31-8 when scoring 4 or more runs, but 16-44 when scoring 3 or less. So, no matter how many runs they score today, 60% of the time this season, they are scoring 3 runs of less in a game. Imagine their record with this pitching staff if they had even an average offense. Ugh, just so frustrating!

However, it’s a new day, the Royals aren’t mathematically eliminated from playoff contention yet, so let today be the start of an epic run into the playoffs. All-Star Kris Bubic gets his first start out of the break today. Adam Frazier, who was traded for from the Pirates, who has a go-ahead 2 run double and a walk in his first two plate appearances so far is starting in left field today. Cags is back in right after a day off yesterday.

Here is the rest of the Kansas City starters for the day.

The Marlins will start right hander Janson Junk, a pleasant surprise for them this season. Here are the rest of the Marlins starters behind him.

The Royals have lost 4 of their last 5, and 6 in a row at Miami. Hopefully today they can right the ship.