Royals vs Red Sox Game 40 Gamethread

The mythical 40 game threshold that Dayton Moore loved.

Today is game 40 of the season, that threshold that Dayton Moore used to cherish. It was his “we can’t evaluate anyone until 40 games into the season” thing. I don’t know if GMJJ believes in the same thing...Melendez was already demoted. Hunter Renfroe could be next (Canha gets the start in RF tonight).

In tonight’s threshold game, the 20-19 Boston Red Sox march into town. For a deeper dive into the series, go look at Max’s series preview here. The Fenway Boys are in second place in their division, but not all is well.

Nevertheless, the Red Sox have a few guys who are hitting the tar out of the ball and then a bunch of other guys. Gonna be honest...I haven’t watched a game involving the Red Sox for some time and I could not name like well over half their roster. Tanner Houck has crapped the bed so far this season but otherwise their pitching seems strong.

The Royals have been on a tear and are 23-16 heading into this series. Bobby Witt Jr is heating up to MVP levels again, Maikel Garcia is sustaining some early season success, and other guys like Salvy and India are rounding into form. The Royals with a decent offense are a dangerous team with their elite pitching. We had some earlier season struggles, but really this is a fun team to follow and watch. I’m happy to be here.

Michael Lorenzen takes the hill for the Royals tonight. We last saw him getting knocked around by Baltimore in that slugfest game of a billion homers. Maybe we won’t hold that against him? He has otherwise been about average-to-good in his starts.

Rookie Hunter Dobbins gets the start for the Red Sox. He has all of three MLB starts under his belt, and his last one against Minnesota was not inspiring.

Game’s at 6:40pm US Central time. You can watch on FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City or listen on the Royals Radio Network.

Lineups: