The Kansas City Royals have consistently stayed above .500 despite the number of injuries they continue to face. The pitching rotation has been inconsistent, but is finally getting healthy. However, now they are dealing with batting injuries that will hopefully sort themselves out during the All-Star break. Until then they face a Tampa Bay team looking to avoid a sweep.
The Kansas City Royals will get a welcomed site back on the mound as Yordano Venture makes his first appearance in over a month after dealing with ulnar neuritis which is an issue that causes the arm to have weakness along with factoring into his hand strength. The condition kept him out for some time, but Venture now makes a healthy return as he is 3-6 with a 4.68 ERA. His last start was June 12 where he lasted just three innings of play. He did struggle in his last 10 starts with a 5.17 ERA while giving up four runs and nine strikeouts in two rehab starts.
The Royals need their pitching to improve as they have lost an All-Star for the next eight weeks. Alex Gordon is expected to miss plenty of time after suffering a strained groin while chasing down an inside-the-park home run. Jarrod Dyson replaced him on Wednesday. The rest of the Royals batting rotation is doing just fine. Lorenzo Cain is currently batting 14 for 26 with five doubles and six RBI in his last seven games. He is hitting .391 against the Rays team dipping in some trouble.
Tampa Bay are losers of their last 10 of 11 games while hitting a combined .215. They managed to get 14 hits on Wednesday, but still lost due to lack of runs. Nathan Karns takes the mound while being 4-4 with a 3.21 ERA on the season. He has looked good in his last few starts, but lacks in wins due to no run support. He has a 1.78 ERA while 10.09 strikeouts per nine innings in his last five starts. The Rays have repaid him with just two runs. Aiming to avoid a sweep, the Rays must get the offense moving in the coming days.
