Well, uh, woof. After spending the weekend getting blasted by the Yankees and some minor-sounding infighting, the Royals ended a disastrous six-game road trip on a real heater, losers of seven in a row. The vibes are not good as the Royals are tied with the Mets for the worst record in baseball at 7-15.

There’s a lot of season left, and the Royals will need to get this bad taste out of their mouths. Like, now. Immediately. Get a TON of Listerine and swish it around for two minutes. Spit it out. Repeat maybe two or three more times.

Today they return to Kauffman Stadium for a series against the Baltimore Orioles, who enter the series with a 10-12 record. Seth Lugo is the first swish of mouthwash as he gets the start. Lugo was last seen carving the Detroit Tigers into mincemeat, allowing only one run over 6 and 2/3 innings with 7 strikeouts. He has a 1.48 ERA on the season. They will need every bit of Lugo’s best to help end this stink.

The Orioles counter with Kyle Bradish, who I just learned is still under 30 years old. Feels like he’s been around forever, despite not actually pitching that much over the past two seasons. He has four starts of slightly-below-average performance in 2026. He’ll get some Ks but will also give up a walk or three. He’s been bitten by some bad luck – high BABIP, low strand rate – so hopefully the Royals will get some of that luck today.

Salvador Perez gets another day off catching today. He starts at DH, with Carter Jensen at catcher. Jonathan India was placed on the 10-day IL with left shoulder subluxation. Michael Massey starts at second base.

The game starts at 6:40pm US Central at Kauffman Stadium. It’s Grateful Dead night. You can watch locally on Royals.TV, and nationally on FS1. You can listen on 96.5 The Fan or the Royals Radio Network.