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Royals vs. Indians, Game 28 GameThread

The fight for 18-11 and first place goes on.

By Kevin Ruprecht
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

[Update: Rain Delay on School Day at the K. Hey! 2:30 might be the time to play.]

[Update 2: Andy McCullough says rain has slowed but tarp is still on field. 2:30 start time unlikely.]

[Update 3: Reports say 4pm is the new goal for first pitch time.]

[Update 4: 3:25pm is now the start time]

Day baseball! The series against the Cleveland Indians wraps up today in a day game after a night game. Tomorrow, the Royals open an important series against Detroit.

It's not like we haven't questioned Ned Yost's usage of Salvador Perez up to this point, but day games after night games was one of those scenarios in which Perez was said to get some rest. Well, it's a day game after a night game. I realize Erik Kratz was just injured and Francisco Pena was just called up, but this seems like a good opportunity to help keep Perez fresh for the future part of this season. Perez is still catching.

The Royals send out Edinson Volquez to the hill. Volquez has surprised this season. He's easily been the Royals' best starter with a 2.10/2.73/3.66 ERA/FIP/xFIP line. He has limited homers (0.26 HR/9) and base hits on balls in play (.235 BABIP). The current difference between his strikeout rate and walk rate has never been better. His changeup appears to be the big weapon so far with a high whiff rate and high ground ball rate.

Perez is still catching.

The Indians send AL Cy Young and robot Corey Kluber to match up. Kluber has been about as good as last year in terms of peripherals, but his defense and some bad luck appear to be letting him down. His ERA (4.62) is way above his FIP and xFIP (2.98 and 3.03). The Indians have a comical difference between their team pitching ERA and FIP, which means I'd guess it's the defense more than bad luck. Just a guess, though.

Perez is still catching.

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