Royals have too much pitching, go to six-man rotation - MLB

What other choice do they possibly have? It’s not like you can up and demote Fantastic Felipe Paulino or Jeff “The Canadian Crusader” Francis.

With Kyle Davies returning from the disabled list this week, the Royals plan to go to a six-man rotation, possibly for the rest of the season, according to manager Ned Yost.

The career ERAs of the Royals’ six starters:

4.60 (Bruce Chen)
4.61 (Danny Duffy, eight career starts)
4.77 (Francis)
5.45 (Luke Hochevar)
5.55 (Paulino)
5.60 (Davies)

I’m not going to blame Yost for this. Davies is the Royals’ highest-paid starter at $3.2 million, and the front office probably isn’t keen on making him a reliever or simply releasing him, even though he’s 1-6 with a 7.46 ERA. And it wouldn’t really be fair to dump anyone from the current group to make room for Davies, though only Chen deserves any real semblance of job security based on his performance over the last year.

So, six it is, though probably only for a little while. Davies can’t have much more rope, and it’s not like anyone from the group has diplayed much durability lately. Davies, who is coming back from a sore shoulder, was the only one of the six to make 25 starts last season.

HOUSTON – Yordan Alvarez hit a go-ahead three-run double in the seventh inning, and the Houston Astros rallied past the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Friday night for their first win of the season.

Kyle Tucker hit a two-run homer in the sixth and made a spectacular catch at the wall in the seventh to rob Andrew Benintendi of extra bases and keep the World Series champion Astros within one run.

Eloy Jimenez hit two RBI doubles for the White Sox, both off Astros starter Cristian Javier.

Jimenez’s first double scored Tim Anderson in the first inning. In the sixth, Javier gave up three straight doubles to Benintendi, Jimenez and Joan Moncada to make it 3-0 and end his night.

White Sox reliever Kendall Graveman (0-1) loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh on two walks and a single. Jake Diekman came on and gave up Alvarez’s double to deep left-center, a drive that just eluded Luis Robert Jr. and bounced off the wall, clearing the bases.

Four Astros relievers each worked one scoreless inning. Seth Martinez (1-0) got the win and Rafael Montero handled the ninth for his first save.

Chicago starter Lance Lynn allowed two runs in 5 2/3 innings.

ALL IN A DAY’S REST

White Sox INF Andrew Vaughn, who hit a go-ahead two-run double in Thursday’s season-opening win, did not play. Vaughn experienced lower back issues during spring training. Gavin Sheets started at first base.

HOMETOWN HIT

Astros outfielder Corey Yulks, a Houston-area native, singled in his first at-bat and finished 1-for-4 in his major league debut.

PUT A RING ON IT

Astros owner Jim Crane and his wife, Whitney, presented the team and staff with their 2022 World Series rings in a pregame ceremony.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Astros: LHP Blake Taylor, who is on the 15-day injured list with a left elbow strain, began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Sugar Land.

UP NEXT

The four-game season-opening series continues Saturday when Houston’s Jose Urquidy faces Chicago’s Lucas Giolito.