Big break awaits KC Royals in Pittsburgh, but it's still no time to relax

Paul Skenes is, by most accounts, a legitimate candidate for the National League's Cy Young and Rookie of the Year awards. Without a single major league pitch to his credit until Pittsburgh called him up in May, he's 10-2 with a 2.10 ERA in 20 starts and made the NL All-Star team. He's a right-hander no contending team, including the KC Royals, should relish facing down the stretch.

Fortunately for the Royals, it appears they'll dodge Skenes throughout the three-game road series they begin tonight in Pittsburgh. The Pirates' official website lists their starters as Luis L. Ortiz (Friday), Mitch Keller (Saturday afternoon), and Jared Jones (Sunday afternoon).

Missing the opportunity to take on such a dominating hurler as Skenes, who's struck out 151 and walked only 31 in 120 innings, couldn't come at a better time for Kansas City, for whom every game affords the opportunity to improve its playoff chances. Although the Royals just lost two of three contests at Yankee Stadium, Cleveland's Thursday evening loss to Tampa Bay moved second-place KC to within four games of the front-running Guardians in the American League Central.

And with 15 games remaining on the regular season schedule, the Royals have a 1.5-game lead over Minnesota for the second AL Wild Card (they trail the Orioles by three for the first), and are five games ahead of suddenly surprising Detroit, which is 3.5 games behind the Twins.

So, the Royals won't be miffed that their first chance to take on Skenes must wait until at least next season.

But even with that big break, don't think Pittsburgh will necessarily be a cakewalk for Kansas City.

The KC Royals can't take anything for granted this weekend

While Kansas City (80-67) arrives in Pittsburgh needing just one win to secure its first .500 season since 2016, and two victories to grab its first winning campaign since the 2015 World Series championship year, the Pirates (70-76) find themselves tied with Cincinnati for last place in the NL Central. And because they're 10 games behind in the race for the NL's third Wild Card with 16 left, they have almost no hope of playing in October.

But don't expect the Bucs to be easy prey for the Royals. Pittsburgh's scheduled starters aren't bad — Ortiz is 6-5 with a 3.26 ERA; Keller, 11-9 with a 3.85 ERA, leads the club in wins; and Jones is 6-7, 3.82. That trio could be tough on Kansas City's recently quiet offense.

Curiously, the Royals hadn't revealed as of this writing (late Thursday night) which three pitchers manager Matt Quatraro plans to start this weekend. Thursday's day off gives him some room to maneuver — Quatraro could skip Alec Marsh and go straight to Michael Wacha (12-7, 3.34) tonight, then follow with Brady Singer (9-10, 3.42) Saturday, and Seth Lugo (16-8, 2.94), who's tied with Detroit's Tarik Skubal and Atlanta's Chris Sale for the major league lead in wins, Sunday.

Tonight's series-opening contest gets underway at 5:40 p.m. CDT. Bally Sports Kansas City, SportsNet-PIT, and MLBN (out-of-market only) have the telecast, streaming options for Royals fans are here, and the game can be heard on Kansas City stations 96.5 FM The Fan and KFNZ-AM 610, and on the affiliate stations of the Royals Radio Network.

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