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Tonight, the Dalmatians of Kansas City take on the Dalmatians of Cleveland. Bark at the Park may have been like 2 months ago, but tonight is the main event for barking at said park. The winner of this game, should it be Cleveland or Kansas City, will be in sole possession of 2nd place in our humble division.
The Dalmatians Royals have really been swatting the ball in batting practice before games, so it's only a matter of time before the Royals start showing that power. Despite the difference in difficulty between batting practice and game speed, Ned Yost is confident that the Royals can hit home runs whenever and wherever they want.
The Indians, on the other hand, can actually hit home runs. Michael Brantley and Lonnie Chisenhall (really?) are having breakout seasons, and Yan Gomes is picking up where he left off last year. However, Jason Kipnis has been merely average this year, and Nick Swisher is doing his best impression of a dumpster fire. The Cleveland offense has its holes, but it's still above average (104 wRC+).
The Royals send Pongo Danny Duffy to the mound vs. Perdita Corey Kluber. Kluber has had 3 starts against the Royals this year. In 2 of them, Kluber made the Royals irrelevant. In the other, Kluber was less than spectacular. He's been dealing this year, so I expect the Royals will probably be made irrelevant again. Duffy has a lower walk rate this year, but the Indians are patient hitters and Duffy is still wild. Not a great combo.
Here are the lineups for tonight's search for sticks at the bark park:
Drop Out Of Life Lineup: Dyson 8, Infante 4, Gordon 7, Perez 2, Moustakas 5, Cain 9, Butler 3, Aoki DH, Escobar 6, Duffy 1. #royals
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) July 24, 2014
Tonight's #Indians lineup: Kipnis-2B Aviles-LF Brantley-CF Santana-1B Raburn-RF Swisher-DH Gomes-C Chisenhall-3B Ramirez-SS Kluber-RHP
— Cleveland Indians (@Indians) July 24, 2014