Caglianone leads Royals against the Astros after 4-hit performance

Houston Astros (31-39, fourth in the AL West) vs. Kansas City Royals (28-41, fifth in the AL Central)

Kansas City, Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Tatsuya Imai (3-3, 5.24 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 36 strikeouts); Royals: Luinder Avila (1-2, 4.02 ERA, 1.60 WHIP, 28 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -117, Royals -102; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals take on the Houston Astros after Jac Caglianone had four hits against the Rangers on Wednesday.

Kansas City has a 16-19 record at home and a 28-41 record overall. The Royals have the 10th-ranked team ERA in the AL at 4.38.

Houston has a 15-20 record on the road and a 31-39 record overall. The Astros are 15-35 in games when they have allowed at least one home run.

The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Bobby Witt Jr. leads the Royals with 27 extra base hits (17 doubles, a triple and nine home runs). Caglianone is 17 for 33 with two doubles, three home runs and eight RBIs over the past 10 games.

Isaac Paredes has 12 doubles, nine home runs and 33 RBIs for the Astros. Yordan Alvarez is 13 for 34 with a double and two home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 6-4, .259 batting average, 3.40 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs

Astros: 4-6, .221 batting average, 4.20 ERA, outscored by seven runs

INJURIES: Royals: Seth Lugo: day-to-day (face), Kyle Isbel: 10-Day IL (foot), Cole Ragans: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan India: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Kris Bubic: 15-Day IL (elbow), Nick Mears: 15-Day IL (shoulder), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Estevez: 15-Day IL (foot), Alec Marsh: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Astros: Lance McCullers: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Yainer Diaz: 10-Day IL (abdominal), Hunter Brown: 60-Day IL (shoulder), LaMonte Wade: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nick Allen: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Bennett Sousa: 15-Day IL (elbow), Braden Shewmake: 10-Day IL (groin), Carlos Correa: 60-Day IL (ankle), Brandon Walter: 60-Day IL (elbow), Ronel Blanco: 60-Day IL (elbow), Hayden Wesneski: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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