Royals vs. Yankees, Game 46 GameThread

The Royals need to stop the skidding. The Twins have taken over second place within the AL Central, and they stand only one game behind the Royals. The Tigers are two games behind. It remains a close division race. I don't really know how the Twins are doing it. Kyle (Cy) Gibson and Mike Pelfrey have been practically the same pitcher, both beating their peripherals by a large amount so far. All their other starters haven't been so great. They have only three above-average offensive players with significant playing time. Joe Mauer is a shell of his former self offensively.

The Royals need to take a game from the Yankees to stave off the challengers. Unfortunately, the Royals face Michael Pineda today. Although the Royals roughed up Pineda and the Yankees 12 days ago to a 12-1 score, Pineda has otherwise been a very strong pitcher for the Yankees. He strikes out a lot of guys and walks hardly any. The Royals will likely be aggressive early in the count to avoid falling behind against the strike thrower. Chris Young will take the mound for the Royals, who was the starter for that drubbing of the Yankees mentioned above. Young has also been excellent in his starts, so the Royals have a shot at winning this game.

Perez is still catching.

Lineup:

Sleeping Limbs Lineup: Escobar 6, Moustakas 5, Cain 8, Hosmer 3, Morales DH, Gordon 7, Perez 2, Infante 4, Orlando 9, Young 1. #royals

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) May 27, 2015