The Kansas City Royals rode a pair of award-winning performances through August, but only one member of the decorated duo is certain to be on the field against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.
Left-hander Noah Cameron (9-8, 4.08 ERA) is set to take the ball for the Royals (64-80) in the opener of a three-game series with the D-backs (76-68). Cameron was named the American League Pitcher of the Month for August on Sept. 3.
Cameron went 4-0 in five August starts, posting a 1.87 ERA, walking just nine and fanning 24 over 33 2/3 innings. In his last outing, a 9-6 home loss to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday, Cameron received a no-decision after allowing four runs on five hits, with one walk and seven strikeouts. It will be Cameron’s first career appearance against Arizona.
Cameron was joined in the monthly honors by teammate Jac Caglianone, who was named the AL Player of the Month for August after hitting .411 with a major-league-best 1.113 OPS. Caglianone also hit six home runs and drove in 26 runs in the month, but he exited Saturday’s 4-3 loss to the visiting Toronto Blue Jays with a Grade 1 flexor strain in his left elbow.
“Now that we know it’s low grade, then we can progress a little more aggressively when the time comes,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
Caglianone leads the Royals in home runs (23), RBIs (70), slugging (.494) and OPS (.825), and is second in batting average (.283). He did not play Sunday and, according to Quatraro, won’t throw for the next couple of days before being reevaluated Tuesday or Wednesday.
It’s the fourth time Kansas City teammates have swept the awards, and the first since George Brett and Bret Saberhagen did so in July 1985.
While the Royals earned monthly honors, the D-backs are trying to secure a wild-card berth.
Arizona took two of three games against the Houston Astros, most recently a 3-2 win on Sunday. The Diamondbacks currently hold a 1/2-game lead over the San Diego Padres for the final NL wild-card spot.
Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo praised his club’s resolve Sunday after Arizona overcame an early 1-0 deficit and limited Houston to one run during an eighth-inning rally.
“Driving toward a playoff spot only intensifies (things),” Lovullo said. “It’s what the game is all about. You’ve got to love it. I think these guys are embracing what’s happening. They’re fighting every single inning.”
Nolan Arenado hit his 22nd home run, a two-run shot, on Sunday. Arenado exited a 5-3 road loss to the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 16 with left trunk discomfort.
“He’s grinding, there’s no doubt about it,” Lovullo said. “We know about the intercostal situation. But he continues to battle and prepare as good as anyone I’ve ever been around.”
The D-backs have yet to name a starter for Monday’s opener.
With wins in 19 of their last 27 home games, the Royals are just 2-4 in their current nine-game homestand. Vinnie Pasquantino rebounded from an 0-for-4 performance in Saturday’s 4-3 loss, hitting a three-run homer, his 11th, in the first inning Sunday.
“If you let it linger you’re going to spiral,” Quatraro said. “You have to have a short-term memory in this game. You are not going to succeed all the time.”
–Field Level Media
