The Kansas City Royals (49-72, 56-65 RL, 61-59-1 O/U) take on the Tampa Bay Rays (63-55, 57-61 RL, 54-55-9 O/U) in the three-game series finale on Sunday afternoon. The Royals will have veteran Zack Greinke on the mound. The Rays will likely reply with Ryan Yarbrough. The season series is even at 3-3.
The Royals will give Zack Greinke the nod for the 21st time of the season. Greinke was solid last time out, allowing three runs (one earned) in six innings pitched against the Twins but took the loss to fall to 4-8 on the season. The veteran right-hander has been effective recently, posting a 2.65 ERA this month, and has logged a 4.13 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP in 104.2 innings of work on the season. Greinke is 4-6 with a 3.36 ERA in 96.1 career innings against the Rays.
The Royals are struggling on this road trip. They were swept in Minnesota and dropped the two games of this series. The bats are slumping, plating zero or one run in three out of their last four games entering Saturday. They are 3-7 in their last ten games.
Nicky Lopez has been a tough out against the Rays' pitching, going 8 for 19 with a .778 OPS. The young second baseman only has 15 RBIs ac companied by a .574 OPS on the season. Lopez is only hitting .230 this month. The Royals' offense has been one of the worst since trading key hitters.
The Royals are scoring an average of 3.83 runs per game, ranking them 25th overall. The pitching staff has filed a 4.66 team ERA, placing them 28th in the big leagues.