KC Royals need Sunday win to boost MLB Playoffs hopes

Not that long ago, the KC Royals seemed to have a berth in the MLB Playoffs all but sewn up. Fans eagerly counted down the club's magic number as their team inched closer to clinching at least a Wild Card spot, an American League Central Division championship was suddenly more than a dream, and baseball writers found themselves writing not about what offseason moves general manager J.J. Picollo should make, but instead about who the Royals' playoff opponents might be.

All that has changed. San Francisco beat Kansas City in Friday night's opener of the teams' three-game weekend series at Kauffman Stadium, and won that series Saturday by handing the Royals their sixth straight loss, a 9-0 runaway that cut to one-half game KC's dangerously-thin lead over Minnesota for the American League's second Wild Card spot. The Royals are one game ahead of Detroit for the final Wild Card.

What happens this afternoon at The K in their final 2024 regular season home game will have much to do with whether the Royals maintain those narrow margins — losing again to the Giants means they could, depending on what their Wild Card rivals do, drop behind the Twins and into a tie with the Tigers with just six games left to play.

Game time is set 1:10 p.m. CDT.

What the KC Royals must do today

KC's chances of snapping their potentially lethal losing streak depend entirely on two things — the Royals must come alive at the plate and Seth Lugo must pitch like he can.

Kansas City has been almost indescribably bad at the plate this month. The Royals' September .329 SLG is the worst in the major leagues, their .217 average is fourth-worst, and their .286 OBP is fifth-worst. The club won't reach postseason play with those numbers.

That today marks Lugo's turn in the rotation is a good thing; he is, after all, 16-8, trails Detroit's Tarik Skubal by one for the American League lead in pitching wins, and could push his ERA below 3.00 with a good effort against the Giants. He's 16-8 with a 3.05 ERA; although he'll probably finish behind Skubal in American League Cy Young award voting, he might just end up being the Royals' Pitcher of the Year, he's 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA in three September starts, and he's won three of his last four decisions.

But he'll have stiff pitching competition against the Giants.

Seth Lugo and the Royals will battle Blake Snell

Pitching against KC today will be 2023 NL Cy Young winner Blake Snell who, like Michael Wacha with the Royals, has a two-year deal with the Giants that lets him leave after this season by declining a player option for 2025.

Snell's first season in the Bay Area, though, hasn't been what anyone expected. Two trips to the Injured List, first with an adductor strain and then with a groin injury, have limited him to 19 starts and a 4-3, 3.31 record. But apparently healthy again, he's won his last two starts and surrendered just one run in 11 innings doing so. The Brewers nicked him for a run in six innings Sept. 11 and he shut out Baltimore for six frames Sept. 17. He hasn't lost a decision since April 19.

Who's in manager Matt Quatraro's KC lineup today?

Here's how the Royals will take the field and bat this afternoon:

What does San Francisco's lineup look like?

Giants skipper Bob Melvin is sending out this lineup.

Where can KC Royals fans find today's game?

Fans can catch today's telecast on Bally Sports Kansas City, and streamers can find their options here. Kansas City radio stations 96.5 FM The Fan and KFNZ-AM 610 have the radio broadcast, and followers of the Royals can also listen on the dozens of other Royals Radio Network affiliates.

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