Game LXXVI: Royals at Athletics

Kansas City tries to avoid the sweep

The 2024 Kansas City Royals are officially in a rut. After winning eight straight games and peaking at 15-games above .500 on May 25, Kansas City has lost eight of the last 10 games and 15 of 22 overall since that date.

During that stretch, the Royals have the 2nd worst ERA in baseball thanks to its starters struggling for the first time all season.

For panicked Royals fans, this was always going to happen. This team had a 73.5 O/U for wins this season. The lineup isn’t particularly good and the starters were punching above their weight. All-in-all, being seven games above .500 as we approach July is, by all metrics, a booming success for Kansas City.

That said, the Royals could really use a reprieve today. Going to Oakland with the A’s on a nine-game losing streak after facing the Guardians, Mariners, Yankees, and Dodgers had to be a breath of fresh air. Losing the first two games isn’t ideal. Getting swept is certainly not ideal. And yes, it is even less ideal knowing the condition of the Royals outfield and watching Brent Rooker hit cleanup for Oakland.

The Royals send Seth Lugo to the mound, who rebounded well last week against the Dodgers after back-to-back tough starts. In May, Lugo gave up eight runs. In his first two starts in June, he gave up nine.

He faces an Oakland lineup that struck out 10 times in under six innings against him a month ago in Kansas City. He’ll face Mitch Spence, a 26-year-old rookie that recently got promoted from the bullpen into the starting rotation. He has had a bumpy June, with a 4.82 ERA in three starts.

Here are your lineups for this afternoon’s matchup. Maikel Garcia gets the day off: