The Royals Visit Daikin Park for three games starting Monday night.
Houston plays the Royals three times starting Monday night at Daikin Park.
This three-game set represents the second (and final) series between the two clubs this season. Kansas City took the first series two-games-to-one from April 25 through April 27. Houston’s only victory was a 7-3 affair in the final game after a pair of 2-0 losses.
Hunter Brown (4-1, 1.22) got the win with six innings of one-run ball. He allowed seven hits and a walk. Bryan King and Tayler Scott each allowed one run in an inning of work, while Steven Okert pitched a perfect eighth. Chas McCormick led the offense with three hits, including a double. Yordan Alvarez (3) and Yainer Diaz (2) each went yard in the win.
It starts with Hunter Brown. We needed a win and had the right guy on the bump. — Joe Espada
The Astros are 4-6 in their last 10 (LLWLLLWWLW), but just finished off the Reds two-games-to-one. In the series finale on Sunday, Houston shut out Cincinnati, 6-0 behind a strong start from Ronel Blanco (3-3, 4.04). Blanco struck out 11 over eight two-hit innings, walking one batter and getting 65-of-101 pitches in the black. Christian Walker and Cam Smith each collected a pair of hits, and Diaz (4) went deep.
That’s the Blanco that we saw all last year. Sometimes it takes a little bit of time to get going, right? — Espada
Kansas City, 7-3 in their last 10 (LWWWWWWWLL) defeated the Boston Red Sox 3-1 in Sunday’s matinee. Seth Lugo (3-4, 3.02) took the loss despite a Quality Start, allowing three runs in six innings on six hits and no walks. He struck out five and put 61-of-96 over the plate. The Royals managed only four hits in the game, all singles, and scored their only run in the third inning on a Kyle Isbel sacrifice bunt and an error.
GameTimes and Starting Pitchers
7:10PM CT: Michael Wacha (2-4, 2.98) vs. Ryan Gusto (3-1, 2.93)
7:10PM CT: Kris Bubic (4-2, 1.69) vs. Framber Valdez (2-4, 3.94)
7:10PM CT: Michael Lorenzon (3-3, 3.57) vs. *Hunter Brown (6-1, 1.48) (unconfirmed)
The Crawfish Boxes has started to pod, using Playback.com. I’ve personally simulcast three of their past four games, first with bilbos, then with Theo, then solo. I can guarantee that we’ll be broadcasting the rest of them through this season with a rolling cast of TCB writers (and commenters?) So it’s not just gonna be me — if you were worried about it.