(Photo by Reed Hoffmann/Getty Images)
The brief time off the All-Star Break affords major league players ends tonight for the KC Royals when they host Baltimore to kick off a three-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
The weekend contests pit two once-proud franchises fallen on prolonged bad times, a pair of clubs who started this season well but unceremoniously flopped. The Orioles led the American League East for several early April days and lingered close to .500 through the first week of May; the Royals led the Central as late as the beginning of play May 5.