Blue Jays bring 2-1 series advantage over Royals into game 4

Updated Jul. 17, 2022 3:01 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Kansas City Royals (36-55, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (49-43, third in the AL East)

Toronto; Sunday, 12:05 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Kris Bubic (1-6, 6.79 ERA, 1.86 WHIP, 47 strikeouts); Blue Jays: Jose Berrios (7-4, 5.38 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 86 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Blue Jays -317, Royals +256; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Toronto Blue Jays lead 2-1 in a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals.

Toronto has a 49-43 record overall and a 29-19 record at home. The Blue Jays are 33-12 in games when they out-hit their opponents.

Kansas City has gone 17-28 on the road and 36-55 overall. The Royals have the sixth-ranked team batting average in the AL at .243.

Sunday's game is the seventh meeting between these teams this season. The Blue Jays are up 4-2 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has 20 home runs, 38 walks and 57 RBI while hitting .268 for the Blue Jays. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 15-for-39 with two doubles and two RBI over the past 10 games.

Bobby Witt Jr. leads Kansas City with 13 home runs while slugging .453. Vinnie Pasquantino is 10-for-38 with two home runs and four RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Blue Jays: 5-5, .298 batting average, 2.93 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs

Royals: 6-4, .271 batting average, 3.84 ERA, outscored by six runs

INJURIES: Blue Jays: Yusei Kikuchi: 15-Day IL (neck), Julian Merryweather: 60-Day IL (side), Tayler Saucedo: 60-Day IL (hip), Hyun-Jin Ryu: 60-Day IL (forearm), Andrew Vasquez: 15-Day IL (ankle), Nate Pearson: 60-Day IL (mono)

Royals: Jon Heasley: 15-Day IL (shoudler), Salvador Perez: 10-Day IL (thumb), Jake Brentz: 60-Day IL (flexor), Adalberto Mondesi: 60-Day IL (knee), Tyler Zuber: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

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