PREVIEW Starts 6:40 PM ET · PNC Park
September 18, 2026 · NL Cent

Kansas City Royals at Pittsburgh Pirates

September 18, 20266:40 PM ETPNC Park
AWAY
Kansas City Royals
48-68
@
HOME
Pittsburgh Pirates
57-60

Lineups

Lineups are usually announced ~90 minutes before first pitch. Check back soon.

Hitter season stats

Season-to-date lines for each hitter in the projected lineup, with a Marcel projection (Proj OPS). Season columns are 2026 to date; Proj is a forward-looking estimate, not a result.

AWAY · KC Projected · top 9 by AB
BATTER 2026 SEASON PROJ OPS
AVGOBPSLGOPSHRRBIK
1 Salvador Perez DH · R .215 .263 .376 .639 16 48 93 .713
2 Jac Caglianone RF · L .254 .309 .453 .762 18 45 112 .732
3 Bobby Witt Jr. SS · R .286 .356 .457 .813 13 41 74 .792
4 Carter Jensen C · L .228 .301 .415 .716 15 54 127 .751
5 Isaac Collins LF · S .238 .337 .366 .703 6 34 86 .726
6 Michael Massey 2B · L .263 .297 .426 .723 9 39 53 .711
7 Nick Loftin 3B · R .249 .332 .399 .731 5 35 38 .717
8 Kyle Isbel CF · L .243 .293 .347 .640 3 13 42 .705
9 Starling Marte RF · R .255 .311 .314 .625 1 12 37 .700
HOME · PIT Projected · top 9 by AB
BATTER 2026 SEASON PROJ OPS
AVGOBPSLGOPSHRRBIK
1 Bryan Reynolds LF · S .266 .377 .441 .818 15 63 125 .730
2 Brandon Lowe 2B · L .255 .321 .486 .807 24 72 134 .730
3 Nick Gonzales 3B · R .309 .362 .399 .761 6 50 79 .719
4 Jake Mangum CF · S .298 .352 .374 .726 3 24 61 .715
5 Spencer Horwitz 1B · L .271 .375 .439 .814 10 37 45 .737
6 Jared Triolo SS · R .239 .316 .304 .620 1 20 56 .712
7 Henry Davis C · R .170 .268 .315 .583 8 30 48 .707
8 Esmerlyn Valdez RF · R .248 .364 .595 .959 14 38 68 .750
9 Endy Rodríguez C · S .269 .376 .470 .846 7 20 41 .724

Manager comparison

AWAY · KC
Matt Quatraro
Lineup 3.7 R Bunts 2.4 R IBBs 1.8 R
HOME · PIT
Don Kelly
Lineup 4.0 R Bunts 0.6 R IBBs 2.8 R

Bullpen availability

AWAY · KC
  • Available 6
  • Limited 3
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 0
HOME · PIT
  • Available 8
  • Limited 1
  • Rest required 0
  • Inactive 0

Recent form

AWAY · KC
4-6 L1 -6 run diff
LWWLLLLWLW
HOME · PIT
2-8 L3 -17 run diff
LLLWLWLLLL

Pitching & bullpen preview

Probable starters and each bullpen's availability load in the sections above — the Royals and Pirates staffs going in.

Once the game ends, a full pitching and bullpen breakdown appears here: starter lines, the relief sequence and each arm's role, pitch counts, and where the game turned.

Keep reading

How RunsLeft analyzes games

Standard content on this page comes from the MLB Stats API. The pitching analysis describes how the game was pitched — the starter's line, the bullpen sequence and each arm's role (opener, bulk, setup, closer), pitch counts as a fatigue signal, and the leverage context where the game turned. Reliever roles are inferred from how the manager used each arm up to that date. It describes structure and constraints; it does not grade the manager.

Read the full methodology.