New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals: Chris Capuano vs. Edinson Volquez

It's the series finale for the Yankees and Royals this afternoon, but more importantly for the Yanks, today marks the end of one of the most exhausting stretches of games they've ever played. Who would have thought that the 3-6 squad stumbling around in mid-April would play mostly terrific baseball throughout a string of 30 games in 31 days? With a victory, the Yankees could secure their seventh series victory of the nine they've played from April 17th through May 17th. Perhaps fittingly, it would give them a 20-10 record over the 30 games.

The pitching matchup will not be in their favor though. Edinson Volquez is no Cy Young Award candidate, but he has a more recent record of success than Yankees lefty Chris Capuano, who is making his first appearance of the 2015 season after suffering a quad strain in spring training that kept him out of action for about two months. (Bryan Mitchell was optioned after a brief one-day stay.) With Chase Whitley out of commission due to a UCL tear, the Yankees will ask Capuano to hold down a rotation spot while Masahiro Tanaka and Ivan Nova continue their recoveries. Expectations aren't high, but if Capuano can manage six innings of three-run ball or better, as he did in half of his starts last year, Joe Girardi would likely sign up for that in a heartbeat. It's not much, but it's fine for a number five starter.

Unless the Yankees and Royals square off in the postseason (man, that would be exciting), this will be the last time they play in Kansas City this year, so enjoy the fountains while you can. You can catch the action at 2:10pm on YES, MLB Network, FOX Sports-Kansas City, MLB.tv, or carrier pigeon photograph update.

Go Yankees, go baseball, go Capuano hopefully being decent.