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.

Rival report: KC gets 2012 All-Star Game

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is expected to announce that Kansas City will host the 2012 All-Star Game this afternoon on the field at Kauffman Stadium, according to the Kansas City Star.

The game is Kansas City's first major sporting event since the 1988 Final Four and is expected to bring the city nearly $65 million in economic impact.

Having been to Kauffman Stadium, I can tell you this will be a good opportunity for the Royal to showcase the renovations that were done to their stadium. It truly is no longer just an old stadium.

Photo by Andrew Harner