Rival report: Royals to face Strasburg

Washington rookie phenom Stephen Strasburg will make his third interleague start against an AL Central team this afternoon. This time, the Kansas City Royals.

The game will start at 4:35 EST.

Strasburg is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in three starts, striking out at least eight batters each time out.

As a team, the Royals have lost five games in a row and have the second fewest strikeouts (386). The Chicago White Sox, however, have the fewest strike outs among MLB teams (352), but Strasburg struck out 10 of the team's batters across seven innings in his last start.

He also faced the Cleveland Indians.

"I know he's got great stuff," Royals first baseman Billy Butler said. "Everybody knows that. I've seen him on TV. Actually, we've been watching him quite a bit. It's a good challenge for our offense."

The Royals send Brian Bannister to the hill this afternoon.