Houston Astros (13-12, third in the AL West) vs. Kansas City Royals (13-14, third in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Saturday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Framber Valdez (1-2, 4.50 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 26 strikeouts); Royals: Michael Wacha (0-3, 4.15 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 20 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -138, Royals +117; over/under is 8 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals host the Houston Astros aiming to continue a five-game home winning streak.
Kansas City has gone 10-4 in home games and 13-14 overall. Royals hitters are batting a collective .224, which ranks 10th in the AL.
Houston has a 4-6 record in road games and a 13-12 record overall. Astros hitters have a collective .305 on-base percentage, the ninth-ranked percentage in the AL.
The teams match up Saturday for the second time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Maikel Garcia is third on the Royals with eight extra base hits (six doubles and two home runs). Drew Waters is 11-for-35 with three doubles, a triple, a home run and four RBI over the past 10 games.
Jose Carlos Altuve leads the Astros with a .282 batting average, and has two doubles, three home runs, five walks and nine RBI. Jeremy Pena is 11-for-36 with a home run and four RBI over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 5-5, .246 batting average, 3.68 ERA, outscored by three runs
Astros: 6-4, .248 batting average, 2.48 ERA, outscored opponents by seven runs
INJURIES: Royals: Cole Ragans: day-to-day (groin), Hunter Harvey: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Sam Long: 15-Day IL (elbow), Dairon Blanco: 10-Day IL (achilles), Kyle Wright: 15-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 15-Day IL (elbow), Alec Marsh: 15-Day IL (shoulder)
Astros: Spencer Arrighetti: 15-Day IL (thumb), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (elbow), Shawn Dubin: 15-Day IL (shoulder), J.P. France: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Taylor Trammell: 10-Day IL (calf), Kaleb Ort: 15-Day IL (oblique), Pedro Leon: 10-Day IL (knee), Lance McCullers Jr.: 15-Day IL (forearm)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
