The Kansas City Royals face the New York Yankees with both teams looking to improve on rough seasons. The Royals have a 28-72 record and with four losses in a row, they have the second-worst record in the American League. The Yankees have a 52-47 record and are in fourth place in the American League East Division but have won back-to-back games. For the final game of the series, the Royals will turn to Jordan Lyles as their starting pitcher who has only allowed one run in his last two starts while the Yankees will turn to Luis Severino who hopes to build off a start where he only allowed one run.
The Royals are having a season to forget and hope to avoid finishing the season with baseball's worst record. Jordan Lyles has looked great in his recent starts but has struggled on the season, allowing 74 runs in 102.2 innings pitched. Moreover, with a .470 expected opponent Slugging Percentage, a 16.8 Strikeout Percentage, and a 4.74 expected ERA, opponents are making hard contact and putting together strong plate appearances to easily drive in runs against Lyles.
Lyles has struggled on the season but the lineup has let the Royals down this year, scoring only 3.71 runs per game with only eight runs in the last four games. Bobby Witt has 16 home runs and 173 total bases while Salvador Perez has 15 home runs and 143 total bases but the rest of the lineup has been awful. Only two batters have 10 home runs or more and nobody has an OPS+ over 100 and opposing pitchers can eliminate the hapless lineup as a result.