The Kansas City Royals will vie for their first home-series win in a month on Wednesday night when they host the Los Angeles Angels.
The Royals’ most recent series win at home came in a sweep of the Chicago White Sox on July 19-21.
Kansas City’s playoff push has been enhanced by two trade-deadline acquisitions: Right-hander Michael Lorenzen has pitched well in two of three starts, and infielder Paul DeJong has three homers since joining the team.
The Royals hope for similar success with bullpen additions Hunter Harvey and Lucas Erceg.
Erceg already has proved valuable, tossing 9 1/3 scoreless innings and stranding all 11 inherited runners. He often has pitched in high-leverage situations for more than an inning while recording six holds and two saves in eight appearances.
“He’s been outstanding,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “To ask one-plus (innings) the way we have and for him to respond the way he has is really incredible.”
Harvey produced mixed results before going to the injured list with mid-back tightness. He earned two holds and a save, along with one blown save while allowing runs in three of six appearances.
“We got good news on Hunter,” Picollo said. “He’s making progress. His symptoms are resolving. He’s on track to get back. We’ll have to make a decision on whether we’ll have him go out on a rehab assignment, but he’s moving in the right direction.”
Harvey is eligible to return Friday.
Meanwhile, Kansas City got a boost with the return of John Schreiber, who was activated from the injured list to earn the save in Monday’s 5-3 win over the Angels.
“It’s really big to get Schreiber back,” Picollo said. “He’s a big part of what we were doing early in the season, a big part of our success, probably our most consistent reliever early on.”
The Royals will send Lorenzen (6-6, 3.68 ERA) to the mound Wednesday. He has allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings in two of his last three starts. He earned his first win for Kansas City on Friday in a 7-1 victory at Cincinnati.
Lorenzen is 1-3 with a 5.13 ERA against the Angels in eight career appearances (four starts). Pitching for the Rangers, he allowed five runs on five hits in five innings of a July 10 loss in Anaheim.
The Angels will recall right-hander Johnny Cueto for his season debut Wednesday and a return to the venue where he helped Kansas City win a 2015 World Series.
The 38-year-old veteran of 16 major league seasons is 3-0 in four starts for Triple-A Salt Lake City.
“He can pitch,” Angels manager Ron Washington said. “He may not be the Johnny Cueto of five, six, seven, eight years ago, but he has knowledge and wisdom.”
Cueto last pitched against the Royals on Sept. 1, 2022, allowing one run on six hits in 5 1/3 innings for the White Sox. He is 2-3 with a 3.43 ERA in seven career appearances (all starts) against Kansas City.
Cueto was an All-Star with Cincinnati in 2014 — when he led the National League with 242 strikeouts — and with San Francisco in 2016. He was 1-4 with a 6.02 ERA in 13 games (10 starts) for Miami last year.
Los Angeles recorded its highest run total since Aug. 8 in Tuesday’s 9-5 win over Kansas City. The Angels also banged out 11 hits.
“It’s nice when you score runs,” Washington said. “We’ve been having trouble doing it. I hope we can continue.”
–Field Level Media