San Francisco Giants (74-79, fourth in the NL West) vs. Kansas City Royals (82-71, second in the AL Central)
Kansas City, Missouri; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Giants: Mason Black (0-4, 7.07 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 24 strikeouts); Royals: Michael Wacha (13-7, 3.29 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 138 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Royals -166, Giants +140; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Kansas City Royals host the San Francisco Giants to open a three-game series.
Kansas City is 45-33 at home and 82-71 overall. Royals hitters have a collective .310 on-base percentage, the seventh-ranked percentage in the AL.
San Francisco has gone 33-42 on the road and 74-79 overall. The Giants have a 53-6 record in games when they have more hits than their opponents.
Friday's game is the first time these teams square off this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Bobby Witt Jr. has 44 doubles, 11 triples, 32 home runs and 108 RBI for the Royals. Salvador Perez is 14-for-38 with two home runs and nine RBI over the past 10 games.
Mike Yastrzemski has 14 doubles, nine triples, 17 home runs and 53 RBI for the Giants. Michael Conforto is 11-for-36 with a double and three home runs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Royals: 4-6, .233 batting average, 3.20 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs
Giants: 4-6, .223 batting average, 3.39 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs
INJURIES: Royals: James McArthur: 15-Day IL (elbow), Chris Stratton: 15-Day IL (forearm), Vinnie Pasquantino: 10-Day IL (thumb), Michael Lorenzen: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Will Smith: 15-Day IL (back), Hunter Harvey: 15-Day IL (back), Josh Taylor: 60-Day IL (biceps), Kyle Wright: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Giants: Kyle Harrison: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Robbie Ray: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Wilmer Flores: 60-Day IL (knee), Randy Rodriguez: 15-Day IL (elbow), Keaton Winn: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jung Hoo Lee: 60-Day IL (labrum), Tom Murphy: 60-Day IL (head)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
