Probable pitchers and starting lineups, KC Royals vs. Texas, May 5

After suffering their worst loss of the season Saturday night, an embarrassing 15-4 drubbing at the hands of World Series champion Texas, the KC Royals will try this afternoon to win the finale of the teams' three-game set, and another series, at Kauffman Stadium.

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

Saturday's ugly loss, precipitated in no small part by the seven runs with which KC starter Michael Wacha was charged in the 3.2 innings he worked, and sealed for the Rangers by the five runs Matt Sauer gave up in the ninth, dropped Kansas City (20-14) just percentage points behind Minnesota (19-15) in the American League Central. The Guardians, who KC and the Twins both trail by 1.5 games, still lead the division with a 21-12 record, so the best the Royals can hope for today is closing that gap to a half-game before they begin a three-game home series with Milwaukee Monday night.

But before they even think about the Brewers, they must conclude their business with Texas.

Who are today's starting pitchers?

With injured Alec Marsh still on the Injured List and scheduled for a rehab start with Triple-A Omaha this afternoon, the Royals have recalled Daniel Lynch IV from the Storm Chasers to fill his usual place in the rotation, and optioned reliever Colin Selby, who Friday became the 1,000th player to appear in a game for the club, back to Omaha to open roster space for Lynch. Lynch is 2-0 with a 5.86 ERA across six Omaha starts this season and gave up a run in a four-inning start against Iowa Wednesday.

Beset by injuries last year, Lynch hasn't pitched in the majors since last July when he beat Detroit despite giving up five runs in as many innings. A shoulder strain forced him to the Injured List the next day and he worked only two innings for Omaha in late September.

Although he's pitched in 51 major league games, Lynch has never faced the Rangers.

Jon Gray gets the nod for Texas. He's 1-1 with a 2.48 ERA this season; all but one of his seven appearances have been starts. He held Washington to one run in eight innings Tuesday to earn his first win of the 2024 campaign.

Gray is 1-1, 1.98 in two career starts against the Royals.

Who's playing for Kansas City this afternoon?

Here's manager Matt Quatraro's lineup:

Who's playing for Texas?

Here's manager Bruce Bochy's lineup:

How can KC Royals fans follow the game?

Bally Sports Kansas City and Bally Sports Southwest are both televising today's contest. Streamers can find options here. On radio, fans can tune to KCSP-AM 610 Sports Radio or any of the other stations on the Royals Radio Network.

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