Royals vs Cardinals Game 46 Gamethread

The Royals welcome their cross-state rivals on a celebratory weekend.

On a weekend in which the 25-20 Royals will honor their past, their present and future takes the mound. Cole Ragans gets the start in the first game against the cross-state rival St. Louis Cardinals (24-20).

Ragans is coming off a few short starts in a row; he has not exceeded five innings since April 13th against Cleveland, when he went 7 and ²⁄₃ innings. However, Ragans continues to strike out opposing batters at a blistering pace. He’s running a 38% strikeout rate, which is #1 among starters with 40+ innings. Hell there are only a handful of relievers who strike out batters more frequently. I know we’d all like some more innings from him, but he’s been mostly just brilliant this season.

In the Royals lineup, it’s worth nothing Massey is in LF and India is at 2B. If I had to guess, this is probably part of keeping Massey’s iffy back in decent shape.

I have not paid any attention to the Cardinals for the past few years. I could not tell you even half their starters. They are somehow having a decent season, going 24-20 so far. They have a number of hitters all contributing above average offensive output and they have depth.

Their starter is Andre Pallante. He has made 8 starts and appears to be the worst-performing Cardinals starter up to this point in the season, with a FIP right around 5. Low strikeouts, high walks, high dingers. I’d looove to see some offense tonight from the boys in blue.

You can watch the game on FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City and listen on the Royals Radio Network. The game starts at 6:40pm US Central.

Lineups