Royals-Astros series preview, probable pitchers: KC to face one of MLB’s best offenses
Matchup: The Royals (12-23) begin a three-game series against the Houston Astros (20-14) Monday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston. First pitch for all three nights is scheduled for 7:10 Central.
TV/Radio: Fox Sports Kansas City will televise all three games, and KCSP (610 AM) have the radio broadcasts.
Probable rotations: Kansas City: Jakob Junis (rh, 3-2, 5.12), Danny Duffy (lh, 0-1, 3.27), Jorge Lopez (rh, 0-3, 5.09); Houston: Gerrit Cole (rh, 2-4, 3.95), Collin McHugh (rh, 3-3. 4.97), Brad Peacock (rh, 2-2, 5.28).
Royals notes: The Royals dropped the rubber match of a three-game series against the Detroit Tigers in an extra-inning loss on Sunday at Comerica Park in Detroit. The Royals have not won a series since they swept the Cleveland Indians on April 12-14. The Royals fell 5-2 in 10 innings the day after having scored a season-high 15 runs. … Third baseman Hunter Dozier went into Sunday leading the American League in both batting average (.346) and OPS (1.102) while also ranked among the league leaders in on-base percentage (.448, second) and slugging percentage (.654). He went 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk on Sunday. His 10 go-ahead RBIs in April tied for the third-most by a Royals player since that data was tracked (1974). His 10 go-ahead RBIs this season were also tied for the most in the majors alongside Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich. … Royals reliever Brad Boxberger has retired 15 consecutive batters in his past four appearances (five innings). He has allowed just one runner to reach base — a leadoff walk in the first of the five appearances — since April 24.
Astros notes: The Astros wrapped up their two-game Mexico Series with the Los Angles Angels on Sunday afternoon in Monterrey, Mexico. They won both games and hit three home runs in a 10-6 win on Sunday. It marked the second time in three years that the Astros played games in Mexico. They also played a pair of exhibition games there in 2016. … They entered play on Sunday leading the American League in OPS (.822), OBP (.344), batting (.271) and hits (280) and among the leaders in slugging percentage (.478, second) and home runs (54, third). Outfielder George Springer led the way with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs at the start of play on Sunday. He began the day batting .276 with a .365 OBP and .567 slugging percentage. He’d also scored a team-high 23 runs. … Left fielder Michael Brantley had been on a hot streak of late. He’d posted a slash line of .429/.455/.667 in the last week (five games). Last season, pitchers Gerrit Cole and Justin Verlander, third baseman Alex Bregman, second baseman Jose Altuve, Springer and Brantley were AL All-Stars.
This story was originally published May 6, 2019 at 10:02 AM with the headline "Royals-Astros series preview, probable pitchers: KC to face one of MLB’s best offenses."
