Probable pitchers and starting lineups, KC Royals vs. LA, May 11

Showing no obvious lingering effects of the elbow contusion that forced him to the Injured List last month, KC Royals starter Alec Marsh returned to action Friday night and all but stymied the Angels. Only Jo Adell's leadoff home run in the fifth markedly tainted his performance.

But Marsh's seven strikeout night ended when, after walking two of the first three LA hitters in the sixth and trailing 1-0, he gave way to reliever Chris Stratton. Fortunately for Marsh and the Royals, Adam Frazier belted a two-run homer in the ninth to give Kansas City the one-run lead John Schreiber successfully protected, and the Royals beat the Angels 2-1 to secure nothing worse than a split of this four-game West Coast series.

Whether the Royals will need more late-game heroics to snare a series win when they meet the Angels again tonight remains to be seen. But if things break their way today and this evening, the Royals could be a first-place club going into Sunday's series finale.

Climbing atop the American League Central will require two things tonight after the Twins lost to Toronto this afternoon — the Royals, who like Minnesota started Saturday trailing division-leading Cleveland by only a half-game, must win and the Guardians must lose to the White Sox.

For their part, the Royals square off against the Angels beginning at 8:38 p.m. CDT at Angel Stadium.

Here's what to know.

Who are tonight's starting pitchers?

Cole Ragans is manager Matt Quatraro's choice to face LA. After Baltimore battered him for seven runs in only 1.2 innings April 20, Ragans is 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA in his last three starts; he didn't get a decision in his last outing, but struck out eight and allowed just two runs against Milwaukee last Monday.

Overall, Ragans is 2-2, 3.38 in eight starts.

Lefty Tyler Anderson, 2-4 with a 2.74 ERA, will pitch for the Angels. He's started against Kansas City five times in his nine-season big league career and is 1-2, 4.30.

Who's in the Royals' starting lineup?

Quatraro plans on this lineup:

Who's in the Angels' starting lineup?

Manager Ron Washington's lineup:

How to watch or listen to the KC Royals tonight

Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports West will televise the game, as will MLB.TV, which to celebrate Mother's Day is, except for Sunday night's ESPN contest, giving free out of market access to all its games this weekend.

For streaming options, check out our guide to following the Royals.

KCSP-AM 610 Sports Radio and the stations of the Royals Radio Network have the radio broadcast.

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