(5%) KANSAS CITY. The Royals were right there. It was August 28th and were on the verge of sweeping the Guardians to take over sole possession of first place in the division. However, they blew a late 5-2 lead and they haven't won a game since. Yesterday's 7-1 loss was their seventh straight defeat. I successfully played against them at the start of the losing streak and now I'm going to back them to end the skid. Lugo is the right man for the job. He's 14-8 with a 3.12 ERA and 1.12 WHIP on the season. Last time out, he held the Astros to one run through seven complete innings, striking out nine. Last time that he faced Cleveland, he delivered six shutout innings, striking out 10. Lively wasn't sharp last time out. He lasted only 4 ⅓ innings and he allowed nine hits and six earned runs. He had a 5.40 ERA in six August starts. Enough's enough. KC bounces back.