Royals vs Diamondbacks Game 89 Gamethread

The west coast trip continues in the desert.

The 41-47 Royals split a four-game series with the Seattle Mariners leading up to a weekend series against the 43-44 Diamondbacks in Arizona. This is not related to baseball, but I continue to be astounded that anyone can live in Phoenix. As I type this, the temperature there is 103 degrees. The high temperature on Wednesday July 9th is 115 degrees, and the low is 91 degrees. The high temp in Kansas City on July 9th is 91 degrees (right now). I understand the dry heat vs. swamp heat thing, but at least it cools off in KC at night.

This is not new information to anyone, but I just cannot fathom living in that kind of heat. The Diamondbacks live in that heat.

Recently I’ve felt like the Royals should be kindred spirits with the Dbacks, in a way. The primary reason is that Bobby Witt Jr and Corbin Carroll were both selected in the 2019 draft and both debuted in 2022. They were both ascending players as each team squeaked into the playoffs (in different seasons), and the Dbacks made the World Series after an 84-78 season in 2023. Both teams are trying to put together winners around star players at the same time.

The Dbacks also had Garrett Hampson this season, for awhile. He plays for St Louis now I guess.

Each team has experienced some success, but both are scuffling in 2025. Carroll has not played since mid-June due to injury. Corbin Burnes, the big offseason signing, is out due to Tommy John surgery. The rest of the rotation has been somewhat suspect. This is a prime opportunity for the Royals to sneak some wins away from a competitor who is down, just like the Royals.

Kris Bubic will start for the Royals. He has far-and-away been the Royals’ best starter this season, and he’s having a top-10 season overall among all MLB pitchers.

The DBacks will start Eduardo Rodriguez, who in 72 innings of work has decent peripherals but has been rocked by the BABIP/LOB% luck gods to a 5.13 ERA.

The game starts at 8:40pm US Central time. You can watch the game on FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City, or if you live out-of-market you can watch on MLB Network. You can listen on the Royals Radio Network.

Lineups