Gamethread 143: Twins vs Royals

The Kansas City Royals currently sit one game out of the final Wild Card spot, despite just a 4-4 homestand so far. The boys in blue have ripped off three straight victories after a frustrating 1-4 start to the homestand.

The Seattle Mariners are barely hanging on, ahead of the Royals right now, they start at 11:05 central time in Atlanta for those who might want to scoreboard watch.

They have bested two of their biggest foes in Pablo Lopez and Joe Ryan in the first two games of the series. Today, it’ll be Bailey Ober on the mound for Minnesota. The Royals will send Michael Lorenzen to the hill for the sweep, Lorenzen has been really good for the most part since coming back from the IL.

Bobby Witt Jr. is OUT of the lineup for the second straight day with back spasms after leaving Friday’s game after the 6th inning.

Here is the Royals lineup behind Michael Lorenzen for this afternoon.

The Minnesota Twins have really struggled after the trade deadline, after they traded away almost half of their active roster, and a lot of their key guys. They did have a nice, initial little surge with all the young guys, but it’s been tough sledding for the most part.

Here is their lineup behind Bailey Ober for today’s game.

Hopefully the Royals can complete the sweep today and finish with a winning homestand. It’d be nice if the Braves can win today as well, bringing the Royals into a tie with Seattle for the final Wild Card spot with 18 games to go. After today, the Royals have four in Cleveland and three in Philadelphia, so next week will be tough.