Sunday Game Thread: Royals at Cardinals

Game three in St. Louis today vs the cross state rivals will be decided between the battle of the left handers on the mound.

The young gun who is trying to prove to his organization that he can be a consistent big league pitcher. Then, there is the veteran who has nothing else to prove in this game. A name that some think should get the call to Cooperstown and is most likely pitching in his last season.

Kris Bubic has had a wild ride this season, starting at the alternate site then in the bullpen. But, his gutsy performances when the team has needed them has led to him to being fourth on the team in innings.

Bubic has gone six innings in each of his last four starts, allowing seven runs total in those 24 innings.

A cause for concern today is Bubic has a dramatic home and away split. At home, Bubic has a 3.06 ERA. On the road, which he will be today, the left-hander has a 6.68 ERA. To throw more fuel on the fire, Bubic also has a much higher ERA pitching in day games than night games.

These stats may not be in Bubic’s favor. But something that the Royals’ faithful have grown to love about Kris is the fact that he bears down when his back is against the wall.

The left-hander on the other side of the field is none other than Jon Lester. Now, this is not the same Jon Lester that no-hit the Royals in 2008. However, this is a man who was brought to the Cardinals at the trade deadline in hopes for the redbirds to steal a wildcard spot. And I would imagine that is what Lester plans on doing.

The five time All-Star has seen everything in this league, including winning three World Series titles. But he has not seen this Royals lineup (this is a joke, kind of).

The only two batters that Lester has faced that are wearing Royal blue today is Michael A. Taylor (0-3 off Lester) and Carlos Santana. Santana has faced Lester a number of times, notably in the 2016 World Series, where in Game 5 Santana hit a double off of Lester.

The Royals offensively will need to find a way to battle and score the runners on base. In the first two games of this series, LOB have been 12 and 10. Both games resulted in just two runs scored.

Game time today is 1:15 CT at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.