Baltimore Orioles: Previewing the Kansas City Royals series

On Monday, the Baltimore Orioles start a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals.

The Baltimore Orioles enter the series with a 50-54 record while the Royals have a 55 and 48 record. The Royals are currently battling with the Cleveland Indians for first place in the AL Central and are sitting two games behind the 2016 American League champs.

While the Royals aren’t what they were in 2015 when they won the World Series, they are still a tough team to beat.

The Royals have shared their probable pitchers for the series, but the Orioles have only shared the details about the first two games.

Even though the Royals swept the last series, the games were close. In all three games in May, the O’s only lost by one run in each game.

Probable pitchers

Monday evening, left-handed Danny Duffy will pitch against Ubaldo Jimenez. The Orioles saw Duffy on May 12 in a 2-3 loss. Duffy pitched seven innings that day and gave up two runs. He has pitched 101 innings and has a 3.56 ERA.

Tuesday, the Orioles will see Ian Kennedy. He will most likely pitch against Dylan Bundy. Kennedy has a 4.43 ERA and has pitched in 103 innings. He does not give up many hits, but he has given up the most home runs. In this season with the Royals, Kennedy has given up 19 home runs, but batters against him average only .212.

Even though the Orioles have yet to select a pitcher for Wednesday’s game, the Royals have penciled in lefty Jason Vargas for the start. He has a 3.00 ERA in his 120 innings pitched. Against him, hitters are averaging .254. Vargas is having his best season ever with his first invitation to the All-Star game

Recent Royals trade

The Royals just signed Melky Cabrera from the Chicago White Sox, so it is safe to say that the big hitter will see time during this series. He is currently batting .295 and has 13 home runs on the season. Cabrera played for the Royals in 2011 where he batted .305 and hit 18 home runs. He is good at taking advantage of pitchers who make mistakes, so the Orioles should be extra careful when pitching to him.

How many home runs to get to #10,000?

After the two home runs in Sunday’s game against the Texas Rangers, the Orioles’ home run counter is now at 9,993. While it is unlikely that the O’s will get seven off of the Royals in three games – there is a possibility. If the 10,000th were to be hit, it would be on Wednesday.

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The Royals are coming off of a win against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway. They took the three game series with two wins. As expected the big stories of the game belonged to Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez, and Alcides Escobar. The Royals also have their experienced closer Kelvin Herrera, who is always a threat.

Fortunately, the Orioles have done well in the past against Royals pitching. Mark Trumbo, Jonathan Schoop, and Trey Mancini have all batted over .300 against Duffy. Seth Smith and Trumbo have both averaged over .400 against Kennedy, And, Smith and Welington Castillo have done well against Vargas.

Next: The latest Orioles trade deadline rumors

Monday’s game begins 7:05 PM at Camden Yards, just three hours after the trade deadline. It could be an exciting day for Orioles fans and fans of the MLB in general.