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Kansas City Royals left with decisions to make versus Chicago Cubs

By The Sports Xchange
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jose Quintana delivers a pitch to the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning on July 28, 2018 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Chicago Cubs starting pitcher Jose Quintana delivers a pitch to the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning on July 28, 2018 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Manager Ned Yost is coming up with some unique Kansas City Royals lineups as the club is facing a stretch of a plethora of left-handed pitchers.

The Cubs are starting all lefties in this three-game series with Jose Quintana starting Wednesday night. The Royals are countering with rookie right-hander Heath Fillmyer.

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The Royals have lost their last nine games when the opponent has started a left-hander. Their last victory in such a game was June 27 at Milwaukee, when they beat Brent Suter, 5-4.

"Have you looked at our record?" Royals manager Ned Yost said. "We've lost to a lot of people."

The Royals are 34-79 after a 5-0 loss Tuesday night to the Chicago Cubs, who started left-hander Mike Montgomery.

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With the Royals facing four straight southpaws, Yost has been creative with his lineup. He started backup catcher Drew Butera at first base for the second day in a row, his first starts this season at first base. Butera has played only 19 games at first base in his eight-plus years in the majors.

Alcides Escobar started at third base for the fifth time in his career. He had never played third before this season.

"See, the problem I run into is I've got [Ryan] O'Hearn and [Brett] Phillips [both left-handed hitters] and I've got [Jorge] Bonifacio and [Hunter] Dozier [both right-handed hitters]," Yost said. "We play the majority against right-handed pitchers, which opens up more playing opportunities for O'Hearn and Phillips.

"Now, we're playing four lefties in a row. So, why would I want to play a lefty and take playing time away from my righties. It's a balancing attack, so you've got to balance it the most you can."

Also, veteran left-handed first baseman Lucas Duda has been held out of the lineup the first two games.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez is a career .302 hitter in 63 at-bats against Quintana with two home runs. Escobar is hitting .273 in 66 at-bats versus Quintana while Alex Gordon is hitting .288 in 52 at-bats with two home runs. No other Kansas City hitter has more than 12 at-bats against Quintana.

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Quintana is 10-7 with a 4.12 ERA in 21 starts this season. He has picked up a victory in four of his last five outings and the Cubs are 5-1 in his past six turns.

Quintana is 3-9 with a 4.05 ERA in 24 career starts against the Royals. He is 2-2 with a 4.10 ERA in a dozen starts at Kauffman Stadium.

Fillmyer, who the Royals promoted June 15 from Triple-A Omaha, will be making his fifth start and ninth appearance. He is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA. He was removed after three innings and a 31-minute delay Friday in a no-decision at Minnesota in his last start.

Fillmyer is 0-1 with a 2.57 ERA in three appearances (two starts) at Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals lost their sixth straight Tuesday. After winning 13 games in May, the club is 14-43 since. They are 15-39 at Kauffman Stadium, one more home loss than they had in the 2017 season.

The Cubs won their first series since July 19-22. They are 11-9 since the All-Star break. The Cubs' pitching staff registered its 12th shutout, matching Pittsburgh and Cleveland for the most in the majors.

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