Two American League rivals meet on the diamond Sunday to complete a three-game series when the Kansas City Royals (4-16, 5th AL Central) pay a visit to Anaheim to play the Los Angeles Angels (10-10, T-2nd AL West). Kansas City lost to Los Angeles on Friday in the opening game of this three-game set 2-0. The Royals have lost seven straight and 10 of the last 11. The Los Angeles victory on Friday snapped a two-game losing streak and the Angels have lost five of the last eight. Shohei Ohtani had 11 strikeouts in Friday’s win over the Royals. Kansas City will play without four pitchers as well as position players Diego Hernandez, Franmil Reyes and Drew Waters. Los Angeles will play without two pitchers and position players Logan O’Hoppe, Max Stassi an d Jared Walsh.
Kansas City has lost 16 of its first 20 games while struggling both at the plate and on the mound. Kansas City is 30th in team batting average at .203, in on-base percentage at .260 and in slugging percentage with .321. The Royals have produced 59 runs which is 28th in baseball. Bobby Witt Jr and Vinny Pasquantino each have hit three home runs to lead Kansas City. Salvador Perez, MJ Melendez and Witt each have seven RBI to lead the Royals. Kansas City has 27 doubles, four triples and 14 home runs through 20 games.
On the mound, Kansas City is 27th in team ERA at 4.32, 25th WHIP at 1.42 and 26th in batting average allowed at .267. Kansas City's starting rotation has 4 Quality Starts which is 24th in baseball. Brady Singer is the leader in strikeouts with 19, while Brad Keller is the leader in wins with two. Kans as City will hand the ball to Jordan Lyles on Sunday. This season the right-hander is 0-3 with an ERA of 3.91 and 18 strikeouts.