Royals to rediscover winning formula vs. Nats?
Even during their march to the 2015 World Series, the Royals occasionally stumbled at the plate. Those instances were trifling, though, relative to the team’s current offensive drought.
Kansas City hopes to generate some kind of a spark in the middle contest of a three-game set vs. Washington, with an 8:15 p.m. ET first pitch at Kauffman Stadium. Oddsmakers at online sports book Bovada.lv lean toward the host squad as a 1.5-run favorite. The over/under total sits at eight runs.
Ned Yost’s crew once again came up empty with the lumber last night, mustering one extra-base hit in a 2-0 loss. The Royals (13-12) have now been blanked in three of four tilts. They’ve totaled 11 runs while going 7 for 49 with men in scoring position to drop six of the past seven.
On the surface, things wouldn’t seem to improve against Tanner Roark (2-2, 2.03 ERA). The Nats’ starter is in the midst of a 15-inning scoreless streak and has not surrendered a run in three of his five assignments so far. Roark’s interleague numbers pop, too, as he boasts a 2-0 mark with a 1.89 ERA in three such situations.
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Yost counters with Chris Young (1-4, 6.12), who served up multiple homers in Wednesday’s 4-2 defeat to the Angels. The veteran hurler last faced the Nationals (18-7) in 2012. This evening, he must be especially mindful of Daniel Murphy. The visitors’ second baseman cranked three hits Monday and ranks among the MLB leaders with a .382 average.
Despite Kansas City’s recent woes, it still totes one of baseball’s best home records (8-4). We expect Eric Hosmer (.337) and company to manufacture a couple of early tallies off Roark before shortening the game to a six-inning affair. Heck, perhaps even old stalwarts such as Lorenzo Cain (.231) and Alex Gordon (.205) can get in on the fun.
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