Friday Night Thread: Mariners at Royals

Could last night have provided the Royals with the spark they were looking for?

Despite trailing 3-0 with two outs in the eighth inning, Kansas City put together a thrilling rally, ultimately winning 4-3 on a walk-off double by Salvador Perez. The win snapped a four-game losing streak, and with just three games remaining until the All Star Break, a hot finish to the first half could go a long ways for this team.

Tonight, sinker-baller Hisashi Iwakuma, known for his extreme groundball rate, will face the Royals offense, also known for their extreme groundball rate. Elevating will be crucial for a Royal steam that hasn't had a home run in their last four home games.

Opposing Iwakuma is flame-thrower Yordano Ventura, who is coming off of an injury-shortened start. He avoided DL time after spraining his ankle while running the bases in Philadelphia, and he'll look to bounce back from a rough last two starts (11 earned runs allowed in less than 9.0 innings).

I would post the lineups, but I'm having to write this at 1:00 pm because we're getting ready to visit a family friend in the hospital for the evening. But I wouldn't anticipate many changes from last night's set (Gordon, Merrifield, Morales, Hosmer, Perez, Cuthbert, Eibner, Escobar, Orlando).