Game 63; Royals at Cardinals

Game two of the double header, this one is for the series

The Royals took a devastating loss in St Louis in their first game of the doubleheader that came at the hands of Wilson Contreras, who hit a walk-off single against Carlos Estevez in the bottom of the tenth. Now with the season series at 2-3, the Royals will look to knot things up with their I-70 rival in game two.

The Royals' offense is in the midst of a breakout series, where they have posted 15 runs in their first two games, the same number they had scored in their previous six combined. The Royals had one of the worst offenses in baseball, but it appears that they are starting to heat up and get a better feel for their identity going forward.

The addition of Jac Caglianone seems to have lit a fire in the dugout as guys are starting to swing the bat well, and the offense has come alive as of late. On the other hand, the Royals' pitching has fallen off the deep end. On Tuesday, Michael Lorenzen struggled immensely and did not make it out of the third inning, and in game one today, the bullpen collapsed and spoiled an incredible outing by Noah Cameron.

The Royals' offense needs to carry the momentum ahead because we know what this pitching staff is capable of, and now we see what the offense can do as well. When the Royals are clicking, they are one of the best teams in baseball, they just need to find some consistency over the next several games.

Tonight, the offense will have a little less attention, as Royals ace pitcher Cole Ragans makes his return from the injured list. Ragans has not pitched since May 16th where he struggled and was placed on the IL with a groin injury. Ragans enters the game with an insane 14.19 K/9 which would be the best in baseball if not for his IL stint. Today, he will look to bounce back, get ahead early in the count and put the Royals in position for a key win.

For the Cardinals, Matt Liberatore will take the mound, who has been excellent this year, with an ERA that has hovered around 3.00 all year. In Kansas City, Liberatore put up a gem, going six innings, only allowing one run on six hits. The Royals came away with the win in that game, 2-1, but by no fault of Liberatore's, and the Cards will hope to see a similar outing from him tonight.

The lineup for the Royals today is unique, while they still have the same first six hitters, Maikel Garcia gets a game in centerfield, somewhere he has not played since mid April. India comes in at second and Loftin gets a shot at third. Salvador Perez caught in game one and will be moved to first base and Freddy Fermin will be behind the plate. Vinnie Pasquantino went 4-5 and is rewarded by not having to play the field today. Against the lefty in Liberatore, Mark Canha will be in left and Jac Caglianone is back in right today for his first game against a lefty.

Once again the Cardinals will come out with Ivan Herrera as their DH and for the second game of the doubleheader, they have Pozo behind the plate. Vilade is back out in RF and Victor Scott is in Center again. The usual lineup for the Cardinals for the most part and the Royals will look to tag Matt Liberatore and come away with a split in the doubleheader.