Astros look to end slide in matchup with the Royals

Kansas City Royals (66-84, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (75-75, first in the AL West)

Houston; Tuesday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Michael Wacha (9-8, 3.25 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 147 strikeouts); Astros: Hunter Brown (5-3, 3.52 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 100 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -166, Royals +135; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros come into a matchup with the Kansas City Royals as losers of three straight games.

Houston has a 75-75 record overall and a 37-38 record at home. The Astros have hit 197 total home runs to rank second in the AL.

Kansas City has a 66-84 record overall and a 27-48 record in road games. Royals hitters are batting a collective .246, which ranks fourth in the AL.

The teams play Tuesday for the fourth time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez has a .310 batting average to lead the Astros, and has 30 doubles, a triple and 38 home runs. Yainer Diaz is 14 for 33 with a home run and four RBIs over the last 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. has 30 doubles, a triple and 18 home runs while hitting .280 for the Royals. Carter Jensen is 12 for 36 with five doubles, a triple and five home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 4-6, .237 batting average, 4.13 ERA, outscored by 11 runs

Royals: 4-6, .221 batting average, 3.46 ERA, outscored by five runs

INJURIES: Astros: Mike Burrows: 60-Day IL (elbow), Steven Okert: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Brice Matthews: 60-Day IL (knee), Carlos Correa: 60-Day IL (ankle), Brandon Walter: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: Maikel Garcia: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Tony Gonsolin: 15-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Estevez: 60-Day IL (foot), Stephen Kolek: 60-Day IL (flexor), Connor Seabold: 60-Day IL (lat), Beck Way: 15-Day IL (back), Nick Mears: 60-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luinder Avila: 60-Day IL (forearm), Cole Ragans: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan India: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.