Reds and Royals meet to determine series winner

Kansas City Royals (23-38, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Cincinnati Reds (31-29, fifth in the NL Central)

Cincinnati; Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Royals: Stephen Kolek (3-1, 3.48 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 19 strikeouts); Reds: Chase Burns (7-1, 1.96 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 72 strikeouts)

LINE: Reds -155, Royals +129; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Both the Cincinnati Reds and the Kansas City Royals are looking for a series win with a victory on Wednesday.

Cincinnati has gone 16-15 at home and 31-29 overall. Reds hitters have a collective .312 on-base percentage, the 10th-ranked percentage in the NL.

Kansas City has an 8-21 record on the road and a 23-38 record overall. The Royals are 11-7 in games when they did not allow a home run.

The teams play Wednesday for the third time this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Sal Stewart has 12 home runs, 33 walks and 36 RBIs while hitting .258 for the Reds. JJ Bleday is 11 for 40 with two doubles, four home runs and seven RBIs over the past 10 games.

Vinnie Pasquantino has seven doubles, two triples, five home runs and 27 RBIs for the Royals. Michael Massey is 10 for 28 with a double and two home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Reds: 5-5, .226 batting average, 4.99 ERA, outscored by 10 runs

Royals: 3-7, .233 batting average, 5.68 ERA, outscored by 21 runs

INJURIES: Reds: Chase Burns: day-to-day (illness), Elly De La Cruz: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Pierce Johnson: 15-Day IL (elbow), Graham Ashcraft: 60-Day IL (forearm), Rhett Lowder: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ke'Bryan Hayes: 10-Day IL (back), Jose Trevino: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Brandon Williamson: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Emilio Pagan: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Hunter Greene: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Royals: Kris Bubic: 15-Day IL (elbow), Maikel Garcia: day-to-day (hamstring), Nick Mears: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Cole Ragans: 15-Day IL (elbow), James McArthur: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Estevez: 15-Day IL (foot), Jonathan India: 10-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.