Roster moves, probable pitchers, lineups, KC Royals vs. Philly, Aug. 25

Call the KC Royals' current stretch of 20 straight games with contending teams what you will. A gauntlet. A tough test. A rugged road, or a rough road. A minefield. They're all accurate descriptors of this part of the club's schedule that will see it play host to Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Minnesota, and travel to play the Guardians, Astros, and Yankees before wrapping up the regular season with15 not-so-stacked games.

The first leg of their 20-contest run concludes today when they face the Phillies at Kauffman Stadium in the rubber game of the teams' three-game series; Kansas City won 7-4 Friday night, then took an 11-2 whipping Saturday evening. The former was a good, solid, effort, but the latter was ugly.

Hunting his 10th win, which would have tied his career high, KC starter Brady Singer turned in an odd performance Saturday. He struck out five and didn't walk anyone in five innings, but he gave up 11 hits and five runs, including the first of a pair of three-run homers Philly catcher J.T. Realmuto hit.

If the starter surrendering five runs wasn't bad enough, the Royals' bullpen gave up even more — although Sam Long, who took over from Singer in the sixth, held the Phillies scoreless, Chris Stratton combined with Will Smith and Ángel Zerpa to supply Philadelphia with their final six runs.

And the Royals scraped together only five hits. Freddy Fermin accounted for all of Kansas City's scoring with an RBI single and a sacrifice fly.

It's against that backdrop that the Royals will try to win the series today. Game time is set for 1:10 p.m. CDT.

Who's pitching for Kansas City?

Manager Matt Quatraro's choice to start the last contest of this homestand — the Royals leave after the game for Cleveland to play four with the Guardians, including a Monday doubleheader — is Seth Lugo, who at 14-7 is tied for second for most wins in the majors while his 3.02 ERA is the third-best in the American League.

After rough outings against Boston Aug. 6 and Minnesota a week later, Lugo handled the Angels easily last Monday, striking out eight and allowing only two runs in seven innings. Today's will be his 27th start of the season.

Lugo spent the first eight of his now nine-season career in the National League, so he knows the Phillies well. In 28 relief appearances and six starts aganst them, he's 3-2 with a 4.58 ERA.

Who's pitching for Philadelphia?

Left-hander Kolby Allard gets the start for Philadelphia. He's started once and relieved twice for them this season and is 1-0, 3.46. Career-wise, Allard is 10-24 with a high 5.97 ERA in parts of seven big league seasons.

He's appeared in two games against Kansas City since breaking into the majors in 2018 and is 0-1, 4.50.

Where do the Royals stand heading into today's contest?

Kansas City is tied with Minnesota for second place in the AL Central; both teams are 72-57 and trail Cleveland by two games. The Royals lead Boston by 4.5 games for the third AL Wild Card spot.

Hunter Renfroe injury forces Kansas City roster, lineup moves

Notably, Dairon Blanco will start in right field for KC this afternoon. He's replacing Hunter Renfroe, who went on the Injured List this morning with a hamstring strain. Rookie Tyler Gentry, who is slashing .256/.346/.429 with 13 homers and 54 RBI at Triple-A Omaha, has been called up to take Renfroe's roster spot, and could make his major league debut today.

Here's the rest of Quatraro's lineup:

Who's playing for Philadelphia today?

Here's how manager Rob Thomson, whose 75-54 Phillies lead the NL East by five games, is deploying his club today:

How can KC Royals fans follow this afternoon's game?

Fans who can't make it to The K can watch the contest on Bally Sports Kansas City. ESPN+ has a stream, and other streaming options are here. The game can be heard on Kansas City stations 96.5 FM The Fan and KFNZ-AM 610 and on the other affiliates of the Royals Radio Network.

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