An early Kansas City Royals (3-8) lead quickly evaporated in game one of this series. By the sixth inning, the Texas Rangers (6-4) were clearly on their way to winning, led by a seven-run inning. Monday's affair was the first of six games these teams will play against each other this month. The second is Tuesday night, with the first pitch scheduled for 8:05 p.m. EST. They're in Globe Life Field again, where the Royals will hope to put up more of a fight.
ADOLIS GARCIA YOU ARE GRAND pic.twitter.com/xtQyGQWLiI
— Texas Rangers (@Rangers) April 11, 2023
Through 11 games, the Kansas City Royals own a team batting average of .179 and a team OBP of .248. 15 of their 29 runs this season came in two games, and they've been held under three runs in six of their contests. None of the hitters with at least 25 at-bats are batting above .240, and the club has struck out 102 times, an average of 9.3 per game. It's been ugly.
They're letting down a pitching staff that entered Monday night eighth in FIP and seventh in ERA. Those numbers are going to dip significantly after allowing 11 runs and three long balls, but before Monday they were performing admirably. If the pitching starts to decline too, it's going to be an extremely long summer in Kansas City.
Veteran Jordan Lyles will look to get the team back on track in this one. He's also hoping to pick up his first win as a Royal. Lyles has been pitching since 2011 and has a 5.10 ERA in his career, with a 1.427 WHIP and 4.67 FIP to match. His ERA+ through two starts this season is 96, below the average mark of 100, but still above his career ERA+ of 83. His last time out he allowed five runs and two homers in 5.2 innings, although he finished with nine punchouts without walking anyone. On the Rangers, Robbie Grossman is 3-9 with two home runs and three walks against Lyles. Marcus Semien is 8-16 with a homer, three doubles, and three walks.