The Kansas City Royals will return home Friday night to begin a two-game, in-state series with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Buoyed by resurgent young bats, the Royals’ offense suddenly is one of baseball’s most potent. Since July 28, Kansas City hitters rank near the top of the American League with 19 homers and an average of 5.5 runs per game, while their 26 steals in 13 games lead the majors.
“The speed dynamic is great,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “It rarely goes into a slump. You get guys on, they’re ready to take advantage of opportunities. I think they really thrive on that.”
Bobby Witt Jr. is leading the charge, batting .420 while hitting safely in 11 of 12 games. His 34 steals are fourth in the majors, and the 23-year-old recently became the first player in major league history with 20 homers and 30 steals in each of his first two seasons.
Michael Massey added six homers and 14 RBIs over his past 18 games, and Maikel Garcia’s career-best 14-game hitting streak is the club’s longest since Whit Merrifield’s 15-game streak in 2019.
MJ Melendez provides Kansas City with a revitalized power bat, hitting six of his 12 homers in 24 games since the All-Star break, including four home runs in his past five games.
After a season-best seven-game winning streak, Kansas City has dropped five of six on the road. Despite a current six-game home winning streak, the Royals are 21-36 at Kauffman Stadium.
Kansas City, which split a two-game set in St. Louis at the end of May, will start right-hander Dylan Coleman (0-0, 10.05 ERA) on Friday, while right-hander Adam Wainwright (3-6, 7.81) will take the mound for the Cardinals.
Winless since June 17, Wainwright is 0-5 over his past six starts with a 12.27 ERA.
“I just have been plagued by not getting the job done with two outs all year,” Wainwright told reporters after surrendering seven runs on nine hits in three innings of a 9-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Aug. 4. “It’s just killing me. I made a whole career out of getting people out with two outs.”
Wainwright is 7-4 in 17 career appearances (14 starts) against Kansas City, with a 3.70 ERA. The Royals saddled him with the loss on May 29 in St. Louis, where he threw five innings of a 7-0 loss and gave up three runs.
The Cardinals beat Tampa Bay 5-2 Thursday for their first back-to-back victories since a season-best six-game winning streak ended July 21.
With five homers in his past 13 games while hitting .380, Lars Nootbaar is one of the few bright spots for the Cardinals’ offense, which has just 29 runs overall in 12 losses over the past 19 games.
The Nolans — Arenado and Gorman — lead the club with 24 home runs apiece. Arenado is riding an eight-game hitting streak, hitting .333 with a pair of homers.
With three solo homers in his past six games, Tyler O’Neill has hit safely in 12 of 16 games with seven extra-base hits since returning from a back injury on July 20 after missing 64 games. He returned to the lineup Thursday after missing two games with a lingering knee issue.
— Field Level Media
