Baseball Game Preview: El Camino Real Royals vs. Birmingham Patriots

For the second straight game, El Camino Real will face off against Birmingham. The Royals will be playing in front of their home fans against the Patriots at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (El Camino Real has five straight victories, Birmingham has three straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the field.

El Camino Real took a nine-run loss the last time they faced off against Birmingham, but this time they managed to keep it close and that made all the difference. The Royals' pitcher stepped up to hand the Patriots a 1-0 shutout on Tuesday. That's two games straight that the Royals have won by just one run.

Not much got past Luke Howe, who gave up just two hits and racked up seven Ks to keep Birmingham off the board. Howe has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two walks in 11 consecutive appearances.

El Camino Real's win was their eighth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 19-8. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 6.5 runs over those games. As for Birmingham, their defeat dropped their record down to 17-10.