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Saturday night at Kauffman. The Royals are tied for best record in the American League, facing down their divisional opponent and, as of now, strongest competitor for the AL Central, the Detroit Tigers. You can't beat fun at the old ballpark.
The Royals will send Edinson Volquez (2-2, 1.91 ERA) to the hill, following last night's combined no-hit bid that fell short in the eighth inning. He continues to live and die by his command, as his last start showed. Volquez was dominant early, then lost control of where his pitches were going and ended up giving away five earned runs through 5.2 innings. However, the early returns on the season have been promising. Hopefully he doesn't regress all at once tonight.
Los Tigres will counter with David Price, the 2012 AL Cy Young winner in a contract year. Things started out well enough, but Price has slipped a bit in his last two starts, giving up eleven earned runs in just 8.2 innings. Despite those struggles, he's still sporting a neat 3.48 ERA with a 2-1 record.
Also a bit of news:
Ned Yost hopes the Royals can activate Greg Holland by Tuesday.
— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) May 2, 2015
Edinson Volquez has served his suspension and returns tonight. Yordano Ventura is serving his suspension and will return Saturday, May 9th against the Tigers at Comerica. Greg Holland comes back as early as Tuesday. Luke Hochevar is expected to return on or about the 15th. The Royals may have Kelvin Herrera serve his suspension(s) starting next week when Holland returns, or perhaps the week after when they expect to get Hochevar back. Alcides Escobar is eligible to come off the concussion DL on the 8th.
In the meantime, it hasn't mattered much. After a 7-0 start, the Royals cooled off but have won ten of the next sixteen. Moustakas and Hosmer are laying down bunts against the shift. Chris Young is tossing no-hit bids. What is this life?
LINEUPS
#Royals vs LHP Price: Gordon LF Moose 3B Cain CF Hosmer 1B Morales DH Perez C Infante 2B Orlando RF Colon SS Volquez P
— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) May 2, 2015
#Tigers lineup at KC: Gose CF Kinsler 2B Cabrera 1B V. Martinez DH Cespedes LF Avila C Castellanos 3B Iglesias SS Davis RF Price P
— Detroit Tigers (@tigers) May 2, 2015