Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez was hit by a pitch in the left elbow during Monday night’s game against the Atlanta Braves.

The Chicago Cubs are welcoming the Kansas City Royals to Wrigley Field for a 3-game series starting Monday and there’s a lot of intrigue swirling around the North Siders at the moment.

The Chicago Cubs need a third reliable starting pitcher, and the Kansas City Royals have the man for the job in last season's Cy Young runner-up, Seth Lugo.

Kansas City is 25-26 in road games and 49-52 overall. Royals pitchers have a collective 3.50 ERA, which ranks second in MLB play. The teams play Tuesday for the second time this season.

Noah Cameron was the Royals’ seventh-round pick out of the University of Central Arkansas in 2021. He made his MLB debut in late April and in 12 starts, has allowed two or fewer runs in 10 of them.

The Chicago Cubs came into the season expecting right-hander Colin Rea to factor into the rotation in some capacity. The 35-year-old had 76 career big-league starts before joining the Cubs, and the organization expected that experience to be valuable as they tried to build a pitching staff with depth and multi-inning options.

Vinnie Pasquantino hit two of Kansas City's four two-run homers and doubled on a 3-for-4 afternoon, leading the Royals past the Chicago Cubs 8-4.