Game XXVI: Royals v. Blue Jays

Kansas City goes for the series win

Back-to-back 3-2 wins put the Royals back in the win column after their first losing streak of the season and this afternoon, they look for their 4th series win. Alec Marsh cruised through four innings before an injury forced him out of the game after giving up just four hits and no runs in 4.1 innings. The Royals announced today that he would be placed on the 15-day IL.

While the diagnosis may be discouraging, Kansas City got solid if not memorable work the last two days from Michael Wacha and Alec Marsh, with neither conceding a run. Their performances might be the perfect embodiment of J.J. Picollo’s vision for this season.

“Everything in this game starts and ends with starting pitching,” Picollo said of his offseason plans. It was similar to his mentor Dayton Moore’s vision, a disciple of the 1990s Braves. However, Moore’s time in Kansas City, while remembered for the magical 2014-15 seasons, was marked by an inability to draft and develop starting pitching. So Picollo opened up his checkbook and bought it.

And the last two games represent the value of solid starting pitchers. A losing streak of three that has so often turned into a losing streak of five and then seven was stopped at three. This rotation might not continue to be as effective as it is now, but it should prevent the cataclysmic losing streaks of years past, which keeps a team aimed at .500 on that pace.

Now, they get to their star, despite coming off his worst start as a Royal. Since getting traded to Kansas City last July, Cole Ragans had never given up more than five runs in an outing. And even in the one outing he gave up five runs, he got through six innings. Last Saturday, he failed to make it out of the 2nd inning, giving up seven runs on nine hits and being chased after just five outs, four of which were strikeouts.

He looks to bounce back today against an offense that has been struggling all season. Only the White Sox, Athletics, Twins, and Mariners have scored fewer runs than the Blue Jays’ 95 runs. Kansas City, on the other hand, hasn’t scored more than three runs in its past four games.

Here are your lineups for today’s action as the Royals look to take three of four from the Blue Jays.

Rain Delay Updates

2:48 PM

5:26 PM

5:45 PM. More meetings.