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Royals meet Red Sox in Boston on Sunday
By: Zach Cohen - StatFox
Published: 8/26/2016  at  10:30:00 PM
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KANSAS CITY ROYALS

at BOSTON RED SOX

First pitch: Sunday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: N/A, Total: N/A

The Royals will be looking to continue their push for an AL Wild Card spot when they face the Red Sox on Sunday.

Kansas City looked like it was down for the count before the All-Star Break, but this team has somehow managed to fight its way back into the playoff race. The Royals still have a ton of work to do, but if they can continue to play the way they have been then they’ll certainly put a ton of pressure on the teams in front of them. The Red Sox, meanwhile, are also in a race of their own. Boston is currently fighting with both Toronto and Baltimore for the top spot in the AL East, but the teams don’t have too much separation from the other Wild Card hopefuls behind them. This Sunday night matchup is going to be a big one and it’ll also happen to feature a pair of exciting starters. On the mound for Kansas City will be RHP Yordano Ventura (9-9, 4.27 ERA, 114 K) and he’ll be going up against LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-5, 5.11 ERA, 60 K) for Boston.

The Royals are right back in the thick of things and Yordano Ventura is a big reason for that. The righty is starting to perform like an ace for Kansas City, as the team has now won in each of his past five starts. Ventura has allowed just seven runs in total over those five outings. He will, however, need to improve on his control moving forward. Ventura has walked at least two batters in four of his past seven games and it’s important that he doesn’t give his opponents any free base runners. Offensively, it’d be nice for the Royals if OF Lorenzo Cain can figure out a way to hit Rodriguez on Sunday. Although it’s a small sample size, Cain is hitless in six at-bats against the lefty. He is one of Kansas City’s best hitters and it’s crucial that he finds a way to produce in this big Sunday game.

Eduardo Rodriguez has had an up-and-down season in Boston this year, but he has been solid in his past two trips to the mound. On Aug. 11, Rodriguez pitched seven innings of one-run baseball against the Yankees. He followed that up with four innings of shutout ball in Baltimore on Aug. 16. The length of his last start is a bit concerning, but he should be able to work deeper into this one. He was dealing with some hamstring tightness in that game against the Orioles, but he is feeling better heading into Sunday’s contest. Run support in this game could come from a number of different players, but two guys worth pointing out are DH David Ortiz and 3B Travis Shaw. Ortiz is just 2-for-8 against Ventura in his career, but he is still one of the most dangerous hitters in the league and is a threat to do damage every time he steps up to the plate. Shaw, meanwhile, is 3-for-6 with a homer and four RBI against Ventura in their brief history. It’s possible that he won’t be in the lineup in this game, but his success against Ventura should be enough to earn him a spot.


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