Game Thirty-Two: Kansas City Royals at Toronto Blue Jays

Let’s start May off right.

The blue birds from Ontario will take on the regal cattle of Missouri this afternoon at the Rogers Centre in Toronto for the final game of this three-game set. With yesterday’s win, Kansas City has already claimed the season series against Toronto and will look to secure this series as well with a win today. That would be a first for the team as the Royals are 0-4 in rubber matches so far this year.

Seth Lugo will make his seventh start of the season today. He has a 1.66 ERA and has completed the sixth inning in five of his six starts. He is doing this despite not missing bats, rolling up grounders, or inducing soft contact. I am waiting for the wheels to fall off, which hopefully will not happen today. Lugo had his best start of the season last Friday against Detroit, tossing seven scoreless with nine strikeouts. He hasn’t faced Toronto since July 2021, when he threw scoreless innings in two separate relief appearances as a member of the New York Mets.

The Jays will counter with Chris Bassitt. Things have been tough for the veteran righty in his second season north of the border as his command has badly regressed. He has walked multiple batters in every start and been taken yard in all but one. Bassitt is coming off a disastrous start against the Dodgers in which he surrendered seven runs while failing to complete the third inning. He last faced Kansas City in June 2021 with Oakland, laboring through 5.2 inefficient innings and allowing two runs.

First pitch: 2:07 pm CDT

Royals lineup

Blue Jays lineup