After a lovely off day in KC visiting Leila’s Hair Museum, the Cards took on the Royals in the 2-game Smokehouse Series. Game 1 cooked up a pitching matchup between Jack Flaherty, who’s spared no time grilling opponents since the break; and Glen Sparkman, who’s slow-cooked his way to a tenderized season.
Jack needed just to approximate his dominant second half (1.85 FIP; 12.35 K/9 in 31.1 IP) to make the Cards’ better-than-good odds of winning (64.6%) come true. Sparkman was late to pro ball, having shifted careers from his role as sidekick to superhero Gasman, which ended tragically.