Game 47 Open Thread - Kansas City Royals (23-23) vs. Los Angeles Angels (26-20)

The Royals take a quick trip to the West Coast tonight, with just a three game set in Anaheim before turning around and heading home. Danny Duffy makes his first start since flirting with perfection against the Orioles earlier this week. Duffy brings a 1.42 ERA into tonight's game although his strikeouts are down (6.75 per nine innings compared to 7.69 for his career) and he's been blessed by the BABIP fairy thus far (.162). Duffy has actually never faced the Angels before, and with his hometown of Lompoc just three hours north of Anaheim, he could have some friends and family in the crowd tonight.

The Royals have pretty limited experience against Angels starter C.J. Wilson as well. He has pitched five games against the Royals in his career, but just two of those were starts, the last one coming in 2012. Wilson has been a pretty terrific pitcher at home with a 2.87 ERA in five starts with a strike out per inning and just one home run given up. Wilson is very tough against lefties, giving up just a .549 OPS to them over his career. Wilson throws in the low 90s with a four-seam and two-seam fastball, a cutter, and a curveball as an out-pitch.

Here's how they line up:

The Impact Of Reason Lineup: Aoki 9, Escobar 6, Hosmer 3, Butler DH, Gordon 7, Valencia 5, Cain 8, Ciriaco 4, Hayes 2, Duffy 1. #royals

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) May 23, 2014

Game time is at 9:05 local time, so its going to be a late one. The Twins are up the coast in San Francisco tonight. A loss by them and a win for us in Anaheim ties us for second. Baby steps, people, baby steps.

via i.imgur.com

(courtesy of BlitzAce71)