As the Kansas City Royals are set to welcome back one key contributor from a scary injury, they hope their brightest star won’t be out for any extended period of time.

Right-hander Seth Lugo (2-4, 3.86 ERA) is slated to start on Friday night as the Royals try for a series victory over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. Kansas City will do so with the health status of two-time All-Star Bobby Witt Jr. in question.

Lugo took a line drive to the forehead off the bat of Texas’ Brandon Nimmo in the fourth inning on June 10. Lugo, though, bounced up and exited the contest on his own power, albeit with a noticeable bump on his head.

“That’s a pitcher’s nightmare,” Lugo told the Royals’ official website. “I was very, very lucky that it was kind of a glancing blow instead of straight on.”

After time on the concussion list, Lugo is scheduled to be on the mound at home, where he posted two straight quality starts before that outing against the Rangers. The veteran last faced the Cardinals in 2023 and is 1-0 with a 1.53 ERA in three career starts against them.

Meanwhile, Witt exited the Royals’ 14-6 win over St. Louis in Thursday’s series opener during the fourth inning with right knee discomfort. Witt, who hit his 10th homer and is batting .294, has dealt with knee soreness this season, though the severity of his current issue remains unknown.

Witt’s latest episode could be another blow for a club that’s dealt with a host of injuries in 2026, including to fellow All-Star Maikel Garcia, currently day-to-day with a hand issue.

“When Bobby goes down, it is really concerning,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.

Despite Witt’s departure, Kansas City set its season highs for runs and hits (17) on Thursday. The Royals also recorded eight doubles, including a club-record five during a sixth-run second inning.

Salvador Perez became the all-time home run leader at Kauffman Stadium with his 137th on Thursday. He is four shy of the overall club-record of 317 by Hall of Famer George Brett.

Meanwhile, Kansas City’s Carter Jensen had two doubles Thursday and is batting .366 with 10 RBIs during a 10-game hitting streak.

The Royals on Friday will try for a third straight win this season over St. Louis, which is 3-5 since winning six straight games.

The Cardinals pounded out 13 hits on Thursday but stranded 15 runners while starter Matthew Liberatore allowed seven runs (five earned) over 1 2/3 innings.

“These guys compete hard,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said. “You learn from it, flush, keep moving. We’ll be just fine.”

Talented St. Louis rookie JJ Wetherholt had three hits in the series opener and is batting .379 in his last 15 contests. Teammate Jordan Walker recorded two hits with an RBI on Thursday. He’s 6-for-17 against the Royals in 2026.

Friday’s scheduled Cardinals starter, Michael McGreevy (3-5, 2.99 ERA), ranks among the major league leaders with nine quality starts, including his three in June.

This will be the right-hander’s first career appearance against the Royals.

–Field Level Media

The Athletics made quick work of the Los Angeles Angels in the series opener and will search for another early-inning knockout punch Friday night when the teams continue their four-game set at West Sacramento, Calif.

The A’s sent 11 batters to the plate in a five-run first inning and never relinquished control in a 5-0 victory that followed a stretch in which the team lost three of four games.

Shea Langeliers hit a three-run homer in the first inning Thursday and Tyler Soderstrom followed with a solo shot. The first six batters recorded hits, and the Athletics had seven of their eight overall hits in the opening frame.

“Really unusual game from the offensive standout,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “We came out aggressive. Obviously, we put an inning together that is probably one of our better innings this season. Then to be held to one hit the next seven innings is pretty unique.”

Langeliers took over the club leadership with 19 homers, one ahead of Nick Kurtz. Zack Gelof of the A’s went 1-for-3 with a walk to extend his career-best hitting streak to 22 games, the longest active streak in the majors.

Los Angeles had just four hits while losing for the fourth time in five games.

The Angels received a blow prior to the contest when star center fielder Mike Trout went on the 10-day injured list after sustaining a right hamstring strain while running the bases one day earlier against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Trout had played in 74 of 75 games before going on the IL as he displayed better durability than his recent injury-plagued seasons.

“He plays the game hard,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “He sets the example for everybody, and he’s a good role model for the youth out there.”

Trout certainly wasn’t pleased with the timing of the injury, but he downplayed any concern about it as the All-Star break nears. The All-Star Game will be July 14 in Philadelphia, located roughly 45 miles from his hometown of Millville, N.J.

“I really haven’t thought like that,” said Trout, an 11-time All-Star. “Obviously, I want to play if I get voted in, but no timeline. If I put a timeline on things, I’ve done that in the past, and it’s just frustration whether you do hit it or don’t hit it.”

Los Angeles will turn to ace right-hander Jose Soriano (8-4, 2.79 ERA) on Friday for the second contest of the four-game slate.

Soriano, 27, received a no-decision against the Athletics on May 21 when he gave up two runs and six hits in 6 2/3 innings of the Angels’ 3-2 loss in 10 innings. He is 1-3 with a 7.82 ERA in nine career appearances (seven starts) against the A’s.

Langeliers (7-for-14) and Lawrence Butler (5-for-18) each have two homers off Soriano while Kurtz (3-for-12) has taken him deep once.

Soriano pitched five shutout innings of three-hit ball in an 8-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays last Saturday. He said he was bothered by leg soreness during that outing.

Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-7, 5.13 ERA) will take the mound for the Athletics on Friday. Springs, 33, has lost seven straight decisions and is winless over 11 starts since last prevailing on April 14 against the Texas Rangers.

He has served up 12 homers over his last six starts, including three in Sunday’s 23-9 loss to Colorado. Springs gave up eight runs (six earned) and seven hits over four innings against the Rockies.

Springs is 2-3 with a 5.23 ERA in 13 career appearances (four starts) against the Angels. Jo Adell is 3-for-9 with two homers and five strikeouts against him, while Nolan Schanuel is 3-for-5.

–Field Level Media

Thanks to Corbin Carroll, the Arizona Diamondbacks enter the weekend feeling better about their season.

Carroll helped the Diamondbacks enjoy a rare day off at home before they open a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night in Phoenix.

Carroll hit a grand slam in the second inning Wednesday against the visiting Los Angeles Angels, providing the lead for good in an 8-1 victory.

“The dugout felt an immediate sigh of relief,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It took the air out of some very tense moments and games over the past 12-14 days.”

Following a 3-10 stretch, Arizona has won the rubber match in the past two series. Now, the Diamondbacks will try to get off to a good start against Minnesota with their hottest pitcher, right-hander Michael Soroka, starting on the mound.

Soroka (8-3, 3.11 ERA) earned his eighth win on June 7 after holding the Washington Nationals to one run and three hits over seven innings of a 5-1 victory.

Six days later, he limited the Cincinnati Reds to one run and two hits over seven innings but did not receive a decision in his team’s 2-1 loss.

He walked two batters against the Nationals but didn’t issue any free passes against the Reds.

“When you feel like the hitter might not know what’s coming, I feel a little bit more comfortable throwing balls completely over the plate,” Soroka said. “Last year (when he went 3-8), I think I ran into struggles, because I didn’t have those extra pitches. And second, third time around, these guys were seeing the same two [pitches], four-seam, curveball, over and over again.”

Lovullo has been impressed with Soroka’s run, which included a 3-1 mark with a 1.78 ERA in five starts in May.

“We can depend on him to go out there and do the things he did, but I want to emphasize, we’re not one of 26, we’re 26 of 26, and it takes a team effort,” Lovullo said.

Soroka has made four appearances (three starts) against the Twins in his career, going 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA.

The Twins beat the Texas Rangers 9-3 on Thursday afternoon for their fourth straight win. They can establish their longest winning streak of the season with a victory against the Diamondbacks on Friday.

Minnesota plans to start rookie left-hander Connor Prielipp (2-4, 5.26 ERA) but will keep a close eye on its 2022 second-round draft pick.

Prielipp has made 10 starts this year, building his pitch count and innings along the way.

“We will definitely have to monitor the volume regardless of if it’s within starts or throughout the year,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said after his start on June 7 against the Kansas City Royals. “I don’t think we’re at the point in the year where we will determine, or we have determined where we’re at with that yet.”

Prielipp dealt a season-high 98 pitches in his next outing against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals last Saturday. He was tagged for four runs and seven hits over six innings in a 9-6 loss in which he didn’t factor into the decision.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve pitched this long besides last year, and my body’s felt fine this whole year,” Prielipp, 25, said after his start against the Royals. “These last two years have been really big for my development, and I feel like I’m getting better and better every outing.”

Prielipp will face the Diamondbacks for the first time in his career.

–Field Level Media