Royals vs. Angels Friday game thread

The Royals embark on a ten-game road trip, which may be a good thing considering they have dropped 12 of 13 at home this year. They’ve split their six road games so far, and will hope to get their season back on track on a trip that takes them from Anaheim to Phoenix to Minneapolis.

Tonight the Royals will take on the Angels, but will face a daunting pitching matchup with Taylor Clarke scheduled to start in place of the injured Kris Bubic against one of the best pitchers in baseball in Shohei Ohtani. Ohtani has allowed just two runs in his four starts so far, and is allowing opponents to hit just .091/.268/.121. Clarke isn’t stretched out, so expect him to fill an “opener” role, going an inning or two before handing off to lefty Ryan Yarbrough to sop up the middle innings.

Franmil Reyes leaves the team for the paternity list, with catcher Freddy Fermín joining the team for this series.

The Angels placed catcher Logan O’Hoppe on the Injured List today and called up catcher Chad Wallach. They also optioned struggling reliever Jimmy Herget and called up pitcher Austin Warren. Mike Trout gets a scheduled day off today.

Game time on the West Coast is 8:38 CT on Bally Sports Kansas City.