KC Royals: Wednesday mound matchup is can’t miss stuff

Throughout the long and illustrious history of baseball, there have been many legendary rivalries that still exist to this day. Such rivalries as Red Sox-Yankees, Mets-Nationals and Cubs-Brewers have brought us some great moments. The KC Royals-Yankees rivalry may have fizzled but was once one of the hottest in the game.

Of course, teams will always be rivals with other teams in their divisions, but some of the best rivalries in sports are those that transcend divisions and leagues. The continuing I-70 series between the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals is one.

These two teams face each other every year in interleague play, and their first meeting of 2022 will be in a two-game series with contests tonight and Wednesday afternoon.

The biggest storyline of this particular series isn’t the series itself, however, but rather the pitching matchup for Wednesday’s game, which all but guarantees a classic pitchers’ duel. Kansas City’s Zack Greinke is scheduled to go against the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright at 12:15 p.m. CDT; shortly after high noon seems a fitting time for these two gunslingers to meet.

This will be a good game, but offensively explosive? Probably not. If you like fast-paced games with lots of hits, walks and homers, expect to see very little of that as these two pitchers deal against each other.

This KC Royals game features two established starters who are pitching well.

Greinke, 38 and an 18-year big league veteran who broke into the majors in 2004 and with 219 wins is a probable Hall of Famer and Wainwright, 40, and who debuted just a season later and has 185 victories, have both had strong starts this year. In his first outing Opening Day against Cleveland, Greinke pitched 5.2 innings and gave up five hits and a walk, but only one run, and struck out one and walked one in an effort that rivaled Brad Keller’s six scoreless innings Saturday for the club’s top pitching performance of an opening series when KC pitching wasn’t at its best.

Wainwright won his Opening Day start against Pittsburgh by not giving up a run or a walk and striking out six in six innings.

While Greinke and Wainwright are in the late innings of their careers, Wednesday’s is a match fans won’t want to miss—as their respective Opening Day starts prove, both can still be rather nasty.

Greinke still has plenty in the tank, and anyone who doubts that did not see the season opener, but unfortunately, and despite Kansas City’s offensive resurgence against the Guardians Monday, Royal bats have been relatively quiet so far this season, leaving the jury out on how much they can muster when they face Wainwright.

As for St. Louis, the Cards will need the help of Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt and returnee Albert Pujols (who is hitless going into tonight’s game), or Greinke might completely dominate them.

Considering how long they’ve been around, Wednesday’s game will probably be one of the last times Greinke and Wainwright face each other. So, if you’re a baseball fan who enjoys low-scoring pitchers’ duels, Wednesday’s matchup should be right up your alley.

Don’t miss Wednesday’s battle between the Royals’ Zack Greinke and St. Louis’ Adam Wainwright.