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The Kansas City Royals will look to snap a five-game losing streak and get their first victory in the month of May tonight when they face the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
Jeremy Guthrie will take the mound for the Royals. The veteran right-hander has been uninspiring in his first six starts of the season, posting a 4.50 ERA with a 5.43 FIP. Guthrie's 12.8% K% and 6.1% BB% are in line with the numbers he has posted over the past two seasons. Hopefully The Stormin' Mormon keeps his team in a position to win the game, grits out a tough start, or whatever.
Robbie Erlin will start for the Padres. Erlin's traditional stats (1-4, 5.83) indicate that Erlin has been a dumpster fire this season, but the southpaw appears to have been the victim of some bad luck. Erlin owns a .340 BABIP and a 57.6% LOB%, both of which should regress towards the league average. The lefty could have Hocehvaritis and struggle with runners on base, but his peripherals stats suggest he can be a competent major-league pitcher.
I'm typing this post well before the lineup is released (but I should be back and ready to party before the game starts), but my guess is the Royals will rock the same lineup tonight which they employed last night, which was:
RF Aoki
2B Infante
1B Hosmer
C Perez
LF Gordon
3B Valencia
SS Escobar
CF Cain
Despite my guess, I think there's a solid chance that Ned Yost plays Mike Moustakas against a lefty tonight because domes. I have a hard time imagining Frank going completely crazy and playing Hosmer in right with Butler at first, especially in a park as spacious as Petco.
If you thought tonight's game against the Padres was meaningless, think again!
No pressure, guys, but if the Royals lose today, they will have had a 6-game losing streak by Memorial Day FOR THE ELEVENTH YEAR IN A ROW.
— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) May 6, 2014
I think I'm going to start drinking now. Go Royals
Song of the Day: The Last Poets - Ho Chi Minh
The Last Poets were a spoken word outfit that gained popularity in the early 1970's. The group was very influential, helping pave the way for hip-hop.