After suffering a 1-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers Sunday, the Kansas City Royals were desperate for an offensive lift.
The team is reaching to Triple-A Omaha to add a key piece for their three-game road series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Top Royals prospect Jac Caglianone is expected to be in the lineup for the series opener.
The Royals have lost six of their last nine games. Their 34 homers rank dead last in the majors, and only the Colorado Rockies have scored fewer than their 194 runs this season.
Caglianone, the sixth overall pick in last summer’s draft, produced a .322/.389/.593 slash line in 50 games between Double-A Northwest Arkansas and Omaha. He moved from first base to right field at Omaha to prepare for his promotion.
The Royals are looking to boost their run production to support their excellent pitching staff. Kansas City’s 3.13 ERA ranked fourth in the majors through the weekend’s play.
Royals pitchers have had to persevere through a lack of run support.
“It’s not for lack of effort on the guys,” Royals pitcher Kris Bubic said after absorbing Sunday’s loss. “We see (the hitters) working. We see them game-planning and stuff like that. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way.”
The Royals lost two of three games to the Cardinals May 16-18 in Kansas City. They scored just five runs in that series.
Kansas City will open this series with Michael Lorenzen (3-6, 4.33 ERA), who has lost his last three starts. He is coming off his worst outing of the season, a 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Lorenzen allowed six runs on 11 hits and three walks in five innings.
While he didn’t face the Cardinals earlier this season, Lorenzen has extensive experience against them. In 36 career outings against St. Louis, including three starts, he is 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA.
The Cardinals had won five of six games before losing two of three games to the Texas Rangers during their weekend road series.
They will open this series with Andre Pallante (4-3, 4.23 ERA), who earned a 10-3 victory over the Royals earlier this season. Pallante held the Royals to two runs on seven hits while striking out four and walking nobody in seven innings.
Pallante is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in four career outings against the Royals, including three starts.
After suffering several fielding breakdowns during their 8-1 road loss to the Rangers Sunday, the Cardinals will revisit defensive fundamentals ahead of their nine-game homestand against the Royals, Dodgers and Blue Jays.
“We just weren’t good enough to win a Major League Baseball game today,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said after the loss. “Just some non-plays is what it came down to.
“You just don’t pass over and keep moving. You dissect it. You make sure that people understand what it’s supposed to be and then why. You don’t want to repeat those type of mistakes.”
Pick: St Louis Cardinals Moneyline -140
