Game 72 Open Thread: Kansas City Royals (43-28) vs. Oakland Athletics (34-43)

The Royals will look for the series sweep this afternoon against the second Jesse they have faced in this series - old friend Jesse Chavez. The Royals briefly had Chavez in 2010-11, acquiring him from the Braves with Tim Collins and Gregor Blancor for Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel, a deal that was barely noticed at the time, but ended up netting the Royals three pretty useful players (although two of them with other organizations).

Chavez was a pretty crummy pitcher for the Royals, putting up a 6.95 ERA in 27 games before the Royals placed him on waivers. He went to the Jays, and then the A's, his seventh organization in six years. In Oakland, Chavez added a cutter to his repertoire and became a completely different pitcher. In 290 innings with the A's, Chavez has a 3.56 ERA, and his strikeout rate has spiked to 8.3 per nine innings.

Chavez has settled in as an effective starter this year with a 2.90 ERA in 16 apperances - 12 of them starts. Jesse has had the second-best cutter in baseball this year, and features a decent fastball and slider as well. He has been more hittable recently - he has a 4.88 ERA in the month of June - but struck out 11 hitters while allowing just three hits and one run in seven innings recently against the Padres.

Jeremy Guthrie has a lifetime 4.03 ERA in 29 innings at O.co Coliseum. He has a 4.50 ERA in five starts this month since his disaster in the Bronx, which really isn't any good, but probably pleases the "Quality Start" crowd.

#royals lineup pic.twitter.com/Z9Dc0295uA

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) June 28, 2015