KC Royals vs. Baltimore Orioles: Series Breakdown and Prediction

2 of 3

Jun 7, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Kansas City Royals outfielder Lorenzo Cain (6) reacts during the game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Orioles won 9-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

The KC Royals head home matriculating some sort of winning streak. They face another hot team, the first place team in the AL East, the Baltimore Orioles.

The KC Royals will kick things off Friday night, then finish things up Sunday afternoon.

Game 1

LHP Danny Duffy (2-3, 3.50 ERA, 1.35 WHIP) vs. RHP Dylan Bundy (5-1, 2.17 ERA, 1.05 WHIP)

The marquee matchup of this series will be the first matchup. The KC Royals will be sending their ace to the hill, Danny Duffy.

Duffy will face an Orioles lineup he has had success against in the past. Duffy is 2-2 in his career with a 2.37 ERA against Baltimore. You may remember the 6.1 perfect inning he tossed against them in May of 2014.

Duffy also had a good start against them last year, pitching 6.2 innings of two run ball at Camden Yards. He threw his changeup a lot in this game. This helped him generate tons of swings and misses with an Orioles lineup that strikes out a lot. Look for Duffy to finally have his strikeout game tonight.

One the hill for the Orioles has been their stud, Dylan Bundy. He has been nothing short of phenomenal this year, posting the 8th best ERA in the majors so far this year. But this has come with some good luck though. Bundy has a 4.66 xFIP. Maybe some regression could be coming.

Jun 6, 2016; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop (6) is tagged out by Kansas City Royals catcher Drew Butera (9) in the seventh inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The Baltimore Orioles won 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports /

Game 2

RHP Nate Karns (2-2, 4.56 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) vs. RHP Chris Tillman (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP)

Another good starting pitching matchup in this series. The KC Royals will send out Nate Karns on their side.

Karns has been a lot of what the KC Royals have hoped he would be. This has happened because Dave Eiland and crew have gotten his changeup going.

This start could go either way for Karns. The way he was locating his pitches though in his last start, the free swinging Baltimore Orioles could have their issues.

Making his second start of the year will be veteran righty Chris Tillman. After be placed on the DL to start the year, Tillman made his first start of the year recently, pitching five scoreless innings.

There are some concerns with Tillman though, as his spin rate and velocity are considerably down. Take a look for yourself at this graph from Brooks Baseball.

Apr 22, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Chris Young (32) delivers a pitch against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports /

Game 3

TBA vs. RHP Kevin Gausman (2-3, 6.63 ERA, 1.74 WHIP)

Well, toeing the lab in the series finale for the KC Royals is TBA. In all seriousness, it will be probably be Chris Young. If it isn’t him, it will be Mike Minor or Travis Wood.

If it is Chris Young, here is something positive. In a year where he was just pure dreadful, Young actually had a good start against Baltimore. He collected his first win of the season last year, throwing six innings of two run ball.

Then going out for the Orioles will be their Opening Day starter Kevin Gausman. You may have seen him in the news recently, as he was ejected for hitting somebody with a curveball not to long ago.

Gausman hasn’t face Kansas City recently, not having pitched against them since 2014. He throws mainly fastball, slider, just like Chris Young. He even comes at you with the occasional split-finger. The KC Royals are the 4th best split-fingered hitting team in the majors since 2014.

Series Prediction

Royals take 2 of 3

I really wanted to pick a KC Royals sweep here, I just couldn’t. I’ll say the one loss is the obvious one. The game Chris Young pitches. Have the bullpen ready.

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