Stat of the Day: Let’s Play Two!

The Royals will play their first of three doubleheaders this month today in Toronto

The Royals’ series-opening game in Toronto on Monday night was postponed due to a hole in the roof, the result of fallen ice. It marked only the second postponement in the 30-year history of the Rogers Centre, the other coming on April 12, 2001 — also vs. Kansas City — due to pieces of metal and insulation fell onto the field.

The Royals’ series finale vs. the Angels on Sunday in Kansas City was also postponed due to sub-freezing temperatures. That game will be made up Monday, June 25 at 3:15 p.m. on what was the club’s first mutual off day.

The Royals have played just 11 games in the last 16 days (since April 1) thanks to one scheduled off day and four postponed games. Three of those postponements will be made up this month, in the form of doubleheaders:

• Tuesday, April 17: Traditional DH in Toronto at 2:07 p.m. CT
• Friday, April 20: Split DH in Detroit at 12:10 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. CT
• Saturday, April 28: Split DH vs. Chicago at 1:15 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. CT

According to the exhaustive research done by Royals communications intern, Andrew Gruman — and with help from ESPN’s doubleheader tracker — the Royals will become the first team to play three doubleheaders (traditional or split) within one calendar month since the 102-win Philadelphia Phillies played three doubleheaders in September 2011.

Through the first 19 games of the 2018 regular season, 24 games have been postponed, including five Detroit games, most in the Majors. There have been only six dates out of these first 19 in which all teams scheduled to play actually did.