Despite recent slump, Royals still rank second in MLB in scoring
The Kansas City Royals are still in first place, though they now have some unexpected company, while the Chicago Cubs have lost some ground.
Both clubs will be looking to jump-start slumping offenses in Friday's series opener at Wrigley Field.
Kansas City (28-18) has dropped a season-worst four straight while totaling five runs. The Royals still rank second in baseball in runs per game, though they had been averaging 5.0 prior to that stretch.
Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the New York Yankees dropped them into a first-place tie in the AL Central with surging Minnesota, which has won seven of eight.
The Royals lost five in a row once last year, May 1-5.
"We're not swinging the bats," manager Ned Yost said. "We've cooled off a little bit."
Kansas City has won 19 of its last 24 interleague games, though, and Salvador Perez could be the key to getting the offense back on track. He's batting .354 with 22 RBIs in his last 26 games against NL opponents.
The Cubs (25-21) have lost four of six and scored seven runs in their last four games. Six of those runs came on homers, and Chicago struggled to manufacture runs -- going 2 for 14 with runners in scoring position. The lineup struck out 14 times in Wednesday's 3-0 loss to Washington and dropped two of three in the series.
Kris Bryant is 3 for 14 over his last four games, while Dexter Fowler is 1 for 15 with seven strikeouts.
Coach Joe Maddon was encouraged by his team's performance against the NL East-leading Nationals, whom they limited to seven runs in three games.
"The takeaway is, we can play with these guys," Maddon told MLB's official website. "I feel very confident about that moving forward."
These starters could be poised to keep their opponents in check.
Kansas City's Edinson Volquez (4-3, 2.77 ERA) has given up two runs over 13 innings while winning his last two starts, though he hasn't won in three road outings this year. He's 7-0 with a 2.90 ERA in 11 games, including 10 starts, against the Cubs. The right-hander allowed one earned run over 16 innings in his last three matchups. Volquez is 5-0 with a 1.36 ERA in his last 10 outings against NL teams going back to last season with Pittsburgh.
Jake Arrieta (4-4, 2.95) has logged three straight quality starts, striking out 24 over 21 innings. The right-hander is 2-0 with a 3.12 ERA in three starts against the Royals, whom he hasn't faced since 2011.
Arrieta might have to be mindful of a shaky defense behind him. Chicago committed three errors Wednesday, totaling nine over its last six games, and its 39 overall are the fourth most in baseball.
"We have made a lot of really good plays on defense, and the one that seems to bite us is more the routine stuff," Maddon said. "That's just repetition and technique. It's just being fundamentally sound, and we're working on it always."
Right fielder Alex Rios could rejoin the Royals after missing the last 38 games with a broken left hand. He hit .321 with eight RBIs in seven games before being injured.
"With him in the lineup, our batting order just gets that much deeper," Yost said.
Rios is 3 for 5 versus Arrieta.
These teams haven't met since 2011, when the Royals took two of three at home. The Cubs lead the all-time series, 10-8.
