What to watch for against the Orioles tonight

The KC Royals continued their hot week last night, grabbing a W over the Orioles. They look to potentially take the series with Nate Karns on the hill.

Here is some info for the the KC Royals game tonight.

Time: 6:10 CT

TV: FSKC

Radio: KCSP

Online: MLB.TV

Orioles FanSided Blog: Birds Watcher

Pitching Matchup

RHP Nate Karns (2-2, 4.58 ERA, 1.22 WHIP) vs. RHP Chris Tillman (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP)

What to watch for

An interesting pitching matchup looms tonight, as the KC Royals send Nate Karns to the hill. Here are three observations for tonight’s contest.

Nate Karns Changeup

More from Kings of Kauffman

As we’ve stressed before, the work Dave Eiland has done with Nate Karns has been phenomenal. His velocity is up, his curveball has improved, and most importantly, his changeup is better than ever.

Opponents batted .325 on that pitch for Karns. This year they are batting .154.

This could mean a bad night for Chris Davis. Davis is 0 for 35 since 2015 on changeups thrown by righties.

Chris Tillman Fastball

After one start, Chris Tillman’s velocity has been a bit of a scare. He is averaging a velocity of 89.6 MPH. This is down from his usual low to mid 90s.

Possibly this is why Tillman threw his fastball less in his first start. He usual throws it around 55% of his pitches. He only threw it 40% in his first start.

Lorenzo Cain Home Run?

My home run pick tonight is Lorenzo Cain. The power is down, but I like his matchup against Orioles starter Chris Tillman.

In Tillman’s fastball range of 87-89, Cain is 12 for 20.

"Game Observations 35: Royals Down Orioles"

Cain is only 1 for 11 off Tillman in his career, but he has only struck out once. I think there is a possibility he’ll be able to lift the ball off of Tillman.