We have an interleague MLB contest to consider for Saturday evening when the Kansas City Royals meet the Milwaukee Brewers for game two of their three-game series. The Royals have been hot lately and the Brewers is desperately fighting for a spot in the expanded playoffs. Can Kansas City play the spoiler this weekend?
This preview was written prior to the start of Friday night contests and all opinions are based on Thursday night MLB action.
Royals Last in AL Central
The Royals enter this series riding a one-game winning streak and has won seven of its previous ten games. Kansas City is last in the American League Central standings and is a dozen games behind the White Sox but just a half of a game behind the fourth-place Tigers. Infielder Whit Merrifield leads the Royals with nine dingers and infielder Maikel Franco has a team-high 31 RBI this season.
Jorge Soler is listed on the ten-day IL and will likely miss this series.
The Kansas City pitching staff ranks thirteenth in baseball with a 4.33 team ERA and the sticks check in at number 16 with a team batting average of .244 over 1665 at-bats this season.
Lefty Kris Bubic (1-5, 4.50) is the Kansas City probable starting pitcher and over 40 innings pitched has allowed 43 hits, 20 earned runs with six home runs and 15 walks. Bubic has struck out 37 and is up against a Brewers offense with a 24.5 percent strikeout rate and .200 ISO over 478 plate appearances against left-handed pitching this season.
Brewers Slim Playoff Chances
Milwaukee enters this series riding a one-game winning streak and has won five of its previous ten games. The Brewers are 6.5 games behind the Chicago Cubs and a half of a game behind the St Louis Cardinals and one game behind second-place Cincinnati. Infielder Keston Hiura leads Milwaukee with 13 dingers and a team-leading 32 RBI this season.
The Brewers offense ranks twenty-seventh in baseball with a .225 team batting average and the arms rank number twelfth with a team ERA of 4.29 over 426.1 innings pitched this season.
Righty Corbin Burnes (3-0, 1.98) is the Milwaukee probable starting pitcher and has scattered 27 hits with 11 earned runs, one bomb, and 22 walks over 50 innings pitched. Burnes has struck out 74 and is up against a Kansas City offense with a 24 percent strikeout rate and .158 ISO over 1495 plate appearances against right-handed pitching this season.
Notable Trends
Royals are:
- 2-6 last 9 interleague road games.
Milwaukee is:
- 13-6 last 19 Saturday games.
- 21-10 last 31 during game 2 of a series.
