Game thread LX - Padres at Royals

Can Alec Marsh lead the Royals out of this skid?

Tonight’s game will be the last of the first calendar week in which the Royals lost more games than they won. They’ve lost five of six this week after last night’s game. Perhaps the most frustrating part is that they easily could have won every single game they lost if they had played less sloppily or been able to cap off a comeback. The question that has to be on every Royals fan’s mind is whether this is just an unlucky stretch of baseball or if the team is finally showing its true colors two months into the season.

The good news is that the starting rotation, easily the strongest part of the team and likely the biggest reason for their success this year, doesn’t appear appreciably weakened. Unfortunately, the streaky offense has struggled at times without the injured Michael Massey and the bullpen appears to be starting to wear down. Of particular concern is that the team’s best two relievers through the first part of the year have struggled mightily over the past few weeks. John Schreiber and James McArthur haven’t always given up runs, but they’ve failed to earn strikeouts in what, last night, proved to be a precursor to trouble as both pitchers combined to get only one out while allowing seven runs on seven hits. But, for today, the Royals have what they have.

Alec Marsh will attempt to play backup stopper to Seth Lugo, who earned the only win the Royals managed this week. Marsh has been pretty good this year but had his worst start of the season on Monday against the Twins when he gave up five runs in seven innings. He still struck out seven against only two walks and kept his pitch count low enough to make it through those seven innings, so all is not lost.

The Royals are catching a break as Padres ace Joe Musgrove has been scratched from today’s game. Instead, they will counter with Randy Vásquez. They first have to recall him from AAA, though he has made five starts at the big league level this year after debuting last year. This year he has a 5.82 ERA in those five starts and he’s struggled to earn strikeouts. His last start came last week against Atlanta and he earned the loss while allowing three runs in six innings. Yes, that’s a quality start, and he didn’t walk any, but he also only struck out two and gave up 10 hits, so he was very lucky to escape without any more damage done.

Lineups

The Royals’ failure on Thursday meant their first series loss since May 15. If they want to avoid their second in a row, they will need to win tonight. A loss tonight would also mark their first opportunity to be swept since the first series of the season. It would be great to take advantage of a weak pitcher making an emergency start and give themselves a chance to bounce back with a series win tomorrow.