Lynch Takes Mound for Royals’ First Game of Series Against Cardinals

After getting off to a 2-0 start on the year, the Kansas City Royals ended their series against the Cleveland Guardians on a sour note.

In games one and two, Zack Greinke and Brad Keller's starts were combined with stellar bullpen performances to keep Kansas City in low-scoring contests. Both ended in favorable results for the home team, but neither result was replicated over the next two outings. Young pitchers Kris Bubic and Carlos Hernandez struggled with their command and the Royals' bats went mostly quiet until late on Monday. As a result, Kansas City is now 2-2 in the 2022 season thus far.

On Tuesday night, the team has already made the brief road trip across the state of Missouri and will be battling the St. Louis Cardinals over the next two games. The Cardinals are off to a 2-1 start and are looking to defeat their in-state rivals. A Royals win puts Kansas City back above .500 but, on the other hand, a loss leaves them with a three-game losing streak heading into Wednesday afternoon's matchup. Every game of 162 is important, and both teams will look to capitalize on an abbreviated series.

Here's how the Royals will line up in this evening's game:

Starting Pitchers

Kansas City: LHP Daniel Lynch (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
St. Louis: RHP Dakota Hudson (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

Kansas City Royals Starting Lineup

Whit Merrifield (R) - RF
Bobby Witt Jr. (R) - 3B
Andrew Benintendi (L) - LF
Salvador Perez (R) - DH
Carlos Santana (S) - 1B
Adalberto Mondesi (S) - SS
Michael A. Taylor (R) - CF
Nicky Lopez (L) - 2B
Cam Gallagher (R) - C

Can Daniel Lynch snap the streak for Royals' young pitching?

Heading into this season, a lot of buzz was generated — both good and bad — surrounding the Royals' young core of pitchers. The group of Bubic, Hernandez, Brady Singer, Jackon Kowar and Daniel Lynch was expected to have individual make-or-break campaigns in 2022. Through four games, the results have been poor. Hernandez's control was lackluster in his first start, Bubic got rocked, Singer had a bad experience out of the bullpen and Kowar has already been optioned to Triple-A Omaha. Lynch will look to buck the trend on Tuesday night.

For Lynch, this is his first career start against the Cardinals. It's also his first time facing a National League opponent, as all 15 of his outings in 2021 were against American League competition. Lynch pitched more than any other Royal in spring training this year, allowing six earned runs across 12-1/3 innings of ball. He won the open competition with Singer for the club's final starting spot in the rotation, so the pressure is on for him to perform. Tuesday's outing will help tell if he's up for the challenge.

Cam Gallagher gets first start of 2022 season

Everyone who has watched or followed Royals baseball over the last decade or so knows how much of an iron man Salvador Perez is. The veteran is as solid as they get behind the plate and plays through countless minor injuries every year in an effort to give the team as many innings of catching as possible. When he isn't working behind the dish, though, Kansas City likes to put him at designated hitter so his potent bat remains in the lineup. On those occasions, Cam Gallagher steps in, and he'll be doing so for the first time in 2022.

To this point in his career, Gallagher has posted a .243/.305/.357 line and has been good for a 78 wRC+ and 1.4 fWAR. He's a dependable backup catcher who plays good defense and is good for the every-so-often magic moment in the batter's box. Last season was one of the worst of his career, though, as he was a very clear negative at the plate and just never got going in a career-high 48 games of action. It remains to be seen exactly how often Gallagher will take the field this season, but he'll be aiming to get off on the right foot in his first start of the 2022 campaign.

Follow Along

First Pitch: 6:45 p.m. CST
TV: Bally Sports Kansas City
Radio: KCSP 610 AM