Friday Night Baseball: Royals at Rangers

Three pieces of good news today, Royals fans!

#1. It's Friday!

#2. An All Star is returning from injury to the Royals lineup!

#3. Alcides Escobar isn't batting leadoff!

JUST KIDDING. The last one is obviously false, but hey, two out of three ain't bad.

Kansas City, at 49-52, will look to shake off the incredible futility it showed in last night's stunning loss on Friday night in Arlington. Its opponent, for the fifth time in the last eight days, will be the Texas Rangers, leaders of the American League West. The pitching matchup? A rematch of last Sunday's battle at Kauffman Stadium: Edinson Volquez, perhaps making his last start as a Royal, against A.J. Griffin and his long, blonde locks.

Lorenzo Cain, who had been out since the Cardinals series in late June, returns from the DL after rehabbing a hamstring injury. He immediately steps back into his #3 spot in the batting order. Oh yeah, and Salvador Perez returns after a one-night absence because of a head cold. Here's the full lineup for Kansas City; it's amazing how much better it looks with the addition of Cain:

#Royals lineup pic.twitter.com/fh515RlYmz

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) July 29, 2016

The season is slipping away, and if the Royals want to make a playoff push, they'll need to get on a winning streak sooner rather than later. Today is as good a day as any to get one started.