FanHouse

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

Kansas City Royals (21-32) vs. Minnesota Twins (27-25) - 8:10PM Est.

Generally when looking for the lead game in the On Deck, I try to look for teams that are playing well, or for games that feature a great pitching matchup, or just for a game with a good backstory. It's very rare that I reward a team that's been struggling with such an honor, unless that team has taken losing to an extreme level.

Today is one of those rare days.

While some teams choose to spend their time trying to achieve success, the Royals have spent the last week and a half perfecting the art of losing, and they've been doing a very good job of it. The Royals have lost ten straight, and today they'll be trying to run that streak to eleven as they take on the Minnesota Twins at Kauffman Stadium.

Will they get the job done, or will they blow the whole thing by actually picking up a win?


It will be hard to follow yesterday's performance, in which the Royals managed to blow an 8-3 lead in the 9th inning before eventually falling 9-8 in 10 innings. It was actually the second time the Royals have blown a five-run lead during the losing streak, as they blew one against Cleveland last week. This time the loss prompted Jose Guillen to blow up in the clubhouse after the game.

"Too many babies here," Guillen said. "They don't know how to play the game and win the game right, the way it's supposed to be played. And that's the problem here. Now I know why this organization's been losing for a while. Now I know."

One of those babies, Luke Hochevar, will be starting for Kansas City today. Hochevar started the Royals losing streak with a loss against the Red Sox, and he's gone 0-2 during the skid, walking 10 batters in only 12 innings. He'll be happy to be pitching at home tonight, as he's 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA in his three starts there this season.

The Twins will be trying to finish up their six-game road trip with an impressive 5-1 record, and they'll be turning to Kevin Slowey to get the job done. Slowey is only 1-4 on the season, but that one victory did come in his last start.

St. Louis Cardinals (31-23) vs. Houston Astros (30-24) - 8:15PM Est.

While the Astros are playing a lot better than people expected them to this season, they're doing so as their ace Roy Oswalt is having the toughest year of his career. Roy's ERA is up to 5.56 and he ranks in the National League's "top" two in the following categories: runs allowed (45), hits (85) and home runs against (15).

So there's no doubt he'll be happy to see the Cardinals tonight, as he's been pretty dominant against the Redbirds in his career. Including the postseason, Oswalt is 11-5 with a 2.91 ERA in his career against St. Louis, and he's been even more overpowering the last few years. Since 2005, in his last 12 starts, Oswalt is 7-0 with a 1.56 ERA and has been credited with a quality start in all 12 games.

The Cardinals will counter with Kyle Lohse. Lohse pitched very well his last time out, shutting out the Dodgers for six innings to pick up his first win since he beat the Astros on April 27th. In his career against Houston, Lohse is 2-4 with a 3.51 ERA.

Tampa Bay Rays (32-21) vs. Chicago White Sox (29-23) - 7:10PM Est.

I don't think there were a lot of people who looked at their MLB schedules at the beginning of the year, looked at this series and said to themselves, "That's a possible playoff matchup right there." Yet, that's where we are as somehow both of these teams have managed to be in first place at the end of May.

It's the second time these two will be facing off in a series at Tropicana Field this season, with the Sox taking two of three last time, but since that series the Rays have gone 24-10 and have proven to be near unbeatable at home (21-9).

The Rays will be handing the ball to Edwin Jackson, and in his earlier start against Chicago this season he got touched up for six runs in 4.1 innings. He's 0-1 with an 8.71 ERA in two starts against the White Sox in his career.

The man Edwin lost to in that last start was John Danks, and he'll get his chance at revenge tonight. Danks allowed only three hits and no runs in seven innings that day, while striking out eight. He's 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts against the Rays.

Everybody Else

• Brewers vs. Braves - 1:05PM
• Athletics vs. Blue Jays - 3:35PM
• Padres vs. Nationals - 3:35PM
• Reds vs. Pirates - 7:10PM
• Mets vs. Dodgers - 7:10PM
• Cubs vs. Rockies - 8:05PM
• Diamondbacks vs. Giants - 9:40PM