Monday Gamethread: Royals at Cardinals

The elements do not want this game played. First, it was rained out. Then, inclement weather in the forecast has forced it to be repositioned as a day game. Then the person who would normally be writing this gamethread got locked out of their account.

To add to all of the weirdness, thanks to the injury to Cam Gallagher, the Royals recalled MJ Melendez from AAA Omaha but will not start him today. Edward Olivares is in the lineup, again, and has gone from perennial demotion candidate to leadoff hitter. Nicky Lopez, mired in a slump, will bat ninth.

Zack Greinke will pitch for the Royals. So far his results, including a 2.86 ERA have been everything the Royals could have hoped for. Unfortunately, he’s stopped striking anyone out and it feels like its only a matter of time until he starts getting hit as hard as the rest of the staff.

Meanwhile, the Cards will counter with Steven Matz who has an ERA of 6.00 but his strikeout game is the best its ever been and his BABIP is nearly .500. The Cardinals almost assuredly wanted better from him, but they’re also very likely to get it in the near future. Perhaps even today.

Lineups