Greinke expected to start as Houston hosts Kansas City

Updated Aug. 23, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Kansas City Royals (55-68, fourth in the AL Central) vs. Houston Astros (73-51, first in the AL West)

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

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Daniel Lynch (3-3, 5.03 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 28 strikeouts) Astros: Zack Greinke (11-3, 3.43 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 107 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -237, Royals +194; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Houston and Kansas City will face off on Monday.

The Astros are 39-24 on their home turf. The Houston offense has compiled a .268 batting average as a team this season, Michael Brantley leads the team with a mark of .319.

The Royals are 23-37 on the road. Kansas City has slugged .389 this season. Salvador Perez leads the club with a .517 slugging percentage, including 51 extra-base hits and 32 home runs.

The Astros won the last meeting 6-3. Ryan Pressly earned his fifth victory and Aledmys Diaz went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs for Houston. Wade Davis registered his third loss for Kansas City.

TOP PERFORMERS: Yordan Alvarez leads the Astros with 25 home runs and has 85 RBIs.

Perez leads the Royals with 80 RBIs and is batting .272.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 5-5, .289 batting average, 3.14 ERA, outscored opponents by 26 runs

Royals: 6-4, .279 batting average, 3.86 ERA, outscored by one run

INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Jose Urquidy: (arm), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Rafael Montero: (shoulder), Tyler Ivey: (undisclosed), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Kyle Tucker: (covid-19), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).

Royals: Kyle Zimmer: (neck/trap), Greg Holland: (shoulder), Jesse Hahn: (shoulder), Ronald Bolanos: (flexor), Adalberto Mondesi: (oblique).

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