Probable pitchers and starting lineups, KC Royals vs. Milwaukee, May 8

With a two-run lead over Milwaukee and their closer taking the mound in the ninth inning at Kauffman Stadium Tuesday night, three things should have happened to the KC Royals.

But several minutes later, when all was said and done, none of those things had come to pass, forcing the Royals to wonder just what happened.

Left unaccomplished was closer James McArthur's eighth save, which seemed so well in hand after he retired the first two Brewers he faced after replacing John Schreiber to begin the ninth. But he gave up a two-out double to William Contreras, walked Gary Sánchez and his .208 average, and hung an 0-1 breaking ball that Willy Adames shot into the left field bullpen to give Milwaukee a 6-5 lead. Save blown.

Also unachieved was starter Seth Lugo's sixth win. Despite notching his seventh quality start in eight tries, McArthur's hanger deprived Lugo of the victory that would have tied him with the Dodgers' Tyler Glasnow and Philadelphia's Ranger Suárez for the major league lead.

And taken out of the Royals' firm ninth-inning grasp was their 22nd win; the should-have-been victory would have given them second place in the American League Central and secured another series win, something they can still grab by beating the Brewers in this afternoon's series finale.

Game time for the last contest of this homestand is 1:10 p.m. CDT. Here's what to know about the matinee.

Who are today's starting pitchers?

Brady Singer, 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA, gets a Royal start for the eighth time this year. Save for his April 22 outing against Toronto, when he gave the Blue Jays five runs in six innings, Singer's season has been superb, Only one other time has he surrendered more than one run (two against the White Sox April 17), never has his ERA exceeded 2.76, and he's completed at least five innings in all his starts.

Starting for Milwaukee will be right-hander Joe Ross who, unlike Singer, is finding this season rocky. He's 1-3 with a 4.65 and has been battered for seven runs twice, He pitched well enough to win his last start, giving up only a run in six innings against the Cubs five days ago, but his teammates didn't take the lead until the eighth.

Ross broke in with the Nationals in 2015 but this is his seventh big league season — he opted out of the 2020 pandemic-shortened campaign, pitched 20 times in 2021 before a partial UCL tear ended his season in August, tried to rehab the injury in 2022 but pitched only once in the minors before having Tommy John Surgery, and appeared in eight minor league contests last season.

He's never faced the Royals.

Who's playing for the KC Royals this afternoon?

Manager Matt Quatraro's lineup looks like this:

Who's playing for Milwaukee?

Here's manager Pat Murphy's lineup, which includes Christian Yelich after the Brewers reinstated him from the Injured List this morning:

How about television, streaming, and radio coverage?

Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports Wisconsin are televising today's game; streaming options are here. KCSP-AM 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City and the 50-station Royals Radio Network have the broadcast.

What's next for KC?

After today's game, the Royals head for the West Coast where they'll play the Angels Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon before visiting Seattle for night games Monday and Tuesday and a Wednesday afternoon series finale.

More about the KC Royals from Kings of Kauffman