Losing streak behind them, KC Royals seek key sweep today

The KC Royals, trying to stay on track after breaking their seven-game losing streak earlier in the week, had what appeared to be the good fortune of facing Minnesota's Bailey Ober, a good pitcher they usually handle with ease, Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium. But Ober turned the table on his hosts, shut them down and out for his entire seven-inning, one-hit stint, and left with a two-run lead before the eighth inning began.

But the Royals, clearly glad to see Ober go and wanting no part of a loss, took control of the game they really never seemed a part of despite its close score, plated four runs in the eighth and, behind newcomer Lucas Erceg's three-up, three-down ninth, won the second game of the teams' three-game series 4-2.

The victory, their third in a row, sets the Royals up for a key sweep of Minnesota — win today's series finale, which begins at 1:10 p.m. CDT, and they could boost their already-good postseason prospects.

Where the KC Royals stand in the race for the MLB playoffs

Kansas City begins today's play just 3.5 games behind front-running Cleveland in the American League Central. With 19 games left on their schedule, winning the Central isn't an unreasonable goal. The Guardians play the Dodgers in Los Angeles this afternoon.

Although a division title remains possible, nabbing one of the AL's three Wild Card spots is KC's most realistic path to the postseason. The Royals hold a 1.5 game lead over Minnesota for the second Wild Card; Boston is four games behind Kansas City, with Detroit and Seattle trailing the Twins by just half a game. half-game.

Beating Minnesota today will give the Royals a pretty nice sweep and could, depending on what the other contending clubs do, strengthen their chances to land a place in the postseason for the first time since they won the 2015 World Series.

Who are today's starting pitchers?

Michael Wacha gets his 26th start of the season for Kansas City. The veteran right-hander is 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA and has won seven of his last eight decisions. This will be his first appearance against the Twins this season; he's 4-1, 3.67 against them in six career starts.

Right-hander Simeon Wood Richardson will start for Minnesota. He's 5-3 with a 3.95 ERA in 24 starts and beat the Royals May 28 at Target Field.

Who's in the lineup for the Royals?

Here's how manager Matt Quatraro is deploying his club today:

Who's in Minnesota's Sunday afternoon lineup?

The Twins look like this today:

Where can fans find today's series finale?

Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports North are televising the game. Streaming information is here.

Kansas City's 96.5 FM The Fan and KFNZ-AM 610, and the other stations on the Royals Radio Network, have the radio broadcast.

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